Archery World Cup: Deepika makes first round exit

Four-time silver medallist Deepika Kumari was beaten by Tan Ya-ting in straight sets to make an embarrassing first round exit from the Archery World Cup Final in Rome on Sunday.

The former World No.1 Deepika looked a pale shadow of her former self against the Rio Olympics nemesis from Chinese Taipei, who put up a superlative display to seal the match 6-0 at the Stadio dei Marmi here.
Deepika was the lone Indian to have made the cut to the World Cup Final draw of eight by virtue of her two quarterfinal finishes in the four World Cups this year.

The archer from Taiwan, who had eliminated Deepika in the Olympics pre-quarterfinal last year, started off with two perfect 10s to take the Indian by surprise in the first set.

Ya-ting shot 10-9-10 to set an early momentum, while Deepika was a slow-starter with 8-9-10 and never really overcame from the first set jitters.

The Olympic bronze medallist shot a sensational 30 out of 30 in the second set, to which Deepika (25) had no answer to.

Continuing her impressive form, Ya-ting shot 28 in the third set and blew away any chance of the Indian's bid for a fifth final.