Tokyo Olympics: Deepika Kumari advances to quarterfinals, beats Russia's Ksenia Perova

World No.1 archer Deepika Kumari kept India's hopes alive of winning a medal in archery at Tokyo Olympics with a shootout win in the pre-quarterfinal on Friday. Kumari brushed aside the challenge from  Ksenia Perova of the Russian Olympic Committee 6-5 to advance to the next round of the quadrennial showpiece event. The Russian World Number 8 Ksenia Perova won a silver medallist at Rio 2016 in the team event and a former world champion.

Tokyo Olympics: Deepika Kumari advances to the quarterfinal stage 

In the nail-biting round of 16 clash, Deepika shot 10 in the shoot-off to make it to the quarters. She registered a 6-5 win over the Russian. Deepika started the match on a winning note winning the first set by 28-25. The second set was also a tight contest before Perova edged out Kumari 26-27. Kumari started with 10 and 9 in the first two shots, however the Indian archer's final shot could only fetch her just 7 points.

The Indian archer gained the lead in the match by winning the third set by one point (28-27). The Russian however was not ready to go down without a fight as she bounced back and levelled the fourth at 26-26 to keep her winning chances alive. The fifth and final set went in the Russian's favour (28-25), resulting in a shoot-off between the two archers. While Deepika Kumari kept her cool to shot 10 in a windy condition, the Russian archer could only manage 7 handing her opponent the victory.

Tokyo Olympics: Deepika Kumari performance in the tournament so far

Deepika Kumari has advanced to the pre-quarterfinals after a sweeping victory against Bhutan's Karma 6-0 in straight sets during their Tokyo Olympics Round of 32 and then against USA's Jennifer Mucino-Fernandez 6-4 in the Round of 16 clashes respectively. In the first set, Deepika was put in a spot as Jennifer took an early 2-0 lead. The second set was tied at 2-2 and the world number one staged a brilliant comeback in the following set with a 4-2 lead. Jennifer Mucino-Fernandez then held on to her nerves and ensured a draw in the fourth set 4-4.

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