Archer Deepika Kumari Regains World No.1 Position in World Archery Ranking

By: WE Staff | Monday, 28 June 2021

Following her hat-trick of gold medals at the World Cup Stage 3 in Paris on Sunday, star Indian archer Deepika Kumari reclaimed the top spot in the global rankings for recurve women on Monday. The 27-year-old Ranchi native, who reached the top spot for the first time in 2012, won gold medals in three recurve events on Sunday: women's individual, women's team, and mixed team.

"This is going to take Deepika to the number one spot in the world rankings on Monday," World Archery had tweeted on its official handle after Deepika's gold rush.

Deepika first won the women's recurve team gold with Ankita Bhakat and Komalika Bari in a convincing win over Mexico.

"I am happy, but at the same time, I have to continue my performance like this. I want to improve that because the upcoming tournament is very, very important to us. I am trying my best to continue learning whatever I can," the official website of World Archery quoted Deepika as saying.

She then teamed up with husband Atanu Das, and the couple rallied from a 2-0 deficit to defeat the Netherlands' Sjef van den Berg and Gabriela Schloesser 5-3 for gold.

The Ranchi archer then defeated 17th-ranked Russian Elena Osipova 6-0 to complete a perfect three-for-three performance in the recurve women's section, earning her fourth individual World Cup gold medal.

She has nine gold medals, 12 silver medals, and seven bronze medals from the World Cup.

"This is the first time I've won all three medals in a World Cup. I'm really happy but at the same time, I've to continue improving as we have some very, very important competitions lined up," Deepika had told PTI after her triumphs. 

Deepika Kumari, Ankita Bhakat, and Komalika Bari of India defeated the top-seeded Mexican team of Ana Vazquez, Alejandra Valencia, and Aida Roman 5-1 in three sets in the women's recurve team gold medal match. As India's lone female archer in Japan, she will represent the country.

Deepika became only the second Indian woman, after Dola Banerjee, to reach the top spot in June 2012, when she won her first individual recurve World Cup gold medal in Antalya, Turkey.

She will be the only Indian woman archer competing in the Tokyo Olympics next month.