Deepika Kumari cheers up for archer husband Atanu Das at Tokyo Olympics

As India’s archer Atanu Das stepped into the Yumenoshima Park Archery Field at the Tokyo Olympics in the Men’s Individual Recurve events on Thursday, there were no spectators to root for him. Enters World No. 1 Women’s Recurve archer and his wife, Deepika Kumari in the scene to cheer him up and say words of encouragement from the stands. 

Deepika Kumari left no stone unturned in charging up her husband for his bout against London Olympics gold medallist and South Korean ace archer Oh Jin-hyek. Atanu Das stunned his opponent in the round of 32 as he shot to his victory by 6-5. The game was intense with Oh Jin-hyek taking the first shoot-off at 9. However, Atanu Das broke his streak of multiple Olympic wins as he delivered a 10 to qualify for the next round. While the Korean staff was cheering for Oh Jin-hyek to beat the Indian archer, Deepika Kumari stood alone at the stands yelling “Good job! Confidence!” to boost Atanu’s spirits. 

“I was hearing her the whole time, and she was pushing me up and telling me to believe in myself,” Das told Reuters on Thursday. 

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The husband and wife are staying separately but unite for training. Deepika Kumari has qualified to Round of 16 in the Women’s Individual Archery event, which will be held on Friday. 

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Atanu Das, on Saturday, will be meeting Takaharu Furukawa of Japan for a spot in the quarter-finals of the individual competition. “My message for India is please pray for us and please encourage us. We will try our best, and move ahead,” he said. The husband-wife duo had a rough start to the Olympics with both of them failing to play together at the mixed team event. “I expected the mixed team, but unfortunately…” Atanu Das said.