Tokyo Olympics: Atanu Das goes down to Japan's Furukawa, India's archery challenge ends

Atanu Das has been eliminated from Tokyo Olympics after a 6-4 loss to Japan's Takaharu Furukawa in 1/8 Eliminations of Men’s Individual event on Saturday. By this loss, the Indian challenge in archery has come to an end.

Tokyo Olympics: Atanu Das out of medal contention, India's archery challenge ends

Atanu Das lost the first set 0-2. The Indian archer had scored a 9 in his first shot that was followed by a couple of 8's. However, Takaharu Furukawa outperformed him with three 9's and a 10. 

Atanu's scores were  9 + 8 + 8 = 25 in the first set as compared to 9+ 9 + 9 = 27. Atanu Das staged a good comeback in the following set with a 10. The scorelines read  10 + 9 + 9 = 28 in favor of Atanu Das and 9 + 9 + 10 = 27 in his Japanese rival's favor.

Atanu Das once again won the next set which included a couple of 10s'. The scores read 10 + 10 + 8 = 28 (Atanu Das) and 8 + 10 + 9 = 27 (Takaharu Furukawa). The fourth set ended in a stalemate as both the participants earned a point each. 9 + 10 + 9 = 28 (Atanu Das) and 9 + 10 + 9 = 28 (Furukawa).

Nonetheless, in the fifth and final set, it was Takahar Furukawa who had the last laugh. His final scoreline read 9 + 10 + 8 = 27 as compared to Atanu's  9 + 8 + 9 = 26.

On Friday, Atanu Das's better half Deepika Kumari's dream run in the ongoing Tokyo Olympics came to an end when the reigning world number one was knocked out in the women's archery individual event quarterfinals against Korea's An San by a 0-6 margin which meant that Atanu Das was the only Indian participant in medal contention.

Now with Atanu's elimination, India will have to wait another day for ensuring a podium finish in the quadrennial event.