India’s most decorated archer, Deepika Kumari, once again failed to rise above her familiar inconsistency, crashing out in the round of 32 at the World Championships here on Thursday, while 15-year-old Gatha Khadake shone bright to become the lone recurve archer from the country in the pre-quarterfinals.
Despite being seeded into the third round after a sixth-place finish in qualification, the four-time Olympian Deepika was outshot by Indonesia’s unheralded Diananda Choirunisa in a five-setter.
Deepika began poorly with a 25 against Diananda’s 27 to trail 0-2. She recovered in the second with a 28 to level 2-2 as her rival faltered, but consistency deserted her again.
The Indonesian slammed in two 10s and a 9 in the third set, forcing Deepika into the red ring for a 27-29 defeat, slipping to 2-4. Deepika’s best came in the fourth set with a 29, but Diananda matched her arrow for arrow to stay 5-3 ahead.
Needing to win the decider, Deepika faltered with an 8, the set ending 27-27, enough for Diananda to move through 6-4.
All eyes will now be on Friday’s round of 16, where Gatha faces the toughest challenge of her budding career against the reigning Paris Olympic champion and world No. 1 Lim Si-hyeon.
The 22-year-old Korean, in red-hot form, had eliminated Ankita Bhakat 6-2 with six perfect 10s across two sets.
Seeded 14th after her 666 points in qualifying, Gatha had to start from round one.
She cruised past Azerbaijan’s Fatima Huseynli 7-1 (26-26, 27-25, 27-26, 28-24) and blanked Britain’s Thea Rogers 6-0 (28-27, 27-26, 29-28) while showing consistency and control.
Her biggest test came in the third round against the world No 8 German Olympian and former World Cup bronze medallist Michelle Kroppen Bauer. But Gatha, ranked a lowly 176th in the world, showed no fear.
Across 15 arrows in the contest, Gatha shot three sets of 28 and never dropped below 27, her worst being a solitary 8 showing an astonishing level of control for her age.
Gatha opened with a 28-26 win, capitalising on Bauer’s early 8. The German responded strongly in the second set with two 10s, but a costly 7 meant it ended 27-27.
Bauer edged the third 28-27 as Gatha’s lone 8 left her trailing 3-3 overall.
But the youngster showed remarkable steel under pressure. She shot a perfect 10 and two 9s for another 28-28 draw in the fourth, tying the match 4-4.
In the decider, she held her nerve with one 10 and two 9s for a 28, while the German failed to find a 10. The 6-4 triumph sealed Gatha’s place in the last-16, making her the only Indian recurve archer to progress that far.
In this edition, India have won a historical men’s team gold and mixed team silver, both coming in the compound section.
Published on Sep 11, 2025
