Broken arrows

The Indian archers had a mixed day today, with two failing to hit the bulls-eye, and only Satyadev Prasad making it past the individual 1/32...

The Indian archers had a mixed day today, with two failing to hit the bulls-eye, and only Satyadev Prasad making it past the individual 1/32 eliminations on Monday.

The much talked-about Majhi Sawaiyan lost to his American rival Vic Wunderle of the USA, and then Tarundeep Rai went down 143-147 to Alexandros Karageorgiou of Greece.

Though Sawaiyan was knocked out 153-162, his performance was not bad considering the blustery conditions. The Indian archer failed to settle down in conditions he is not used to, later saying, he 8216;8216;failed to find his rhythm.8217;8217; Wunderle also blamed the windy conditions for an indifferent performance but said, 8216;8216;I am satisfied with my performance and my victory. There were some problems with the wind but that8217;s part of the game.8217;8217;

That Majhi 8212; despite not being able to settle where Wunderle could 8212; didn8217;t do too badly can be gauged from the fact that Australian teenager David Barnes, bronze medallist in last year8217;s world championship, shot 151. Majhi also expressed sadness about the fact that he couldn8217;t live up to the expectations of his idol Limba Ram, Indian archery8217;s poster boy for many years now. 8216;8216;What will I tell him,8217;8217; Majhi asked.

But Majhi8217;s ouster did succeed in belying the tall claims by the officials of the Archery Federation of India. 8216;8216;This time we are sure to win medals in the Olympic Games,8217;8217; Vijay Kumar Malhotra 8212; president of the AAI 8212; claimed in a meet-the-press conference in New Delhi before the archers departed for Athens.

Malhotra8217;s hopes will now be pinned solely on Satyadev, the seasoned archer who raised his game by several notches to put it past higher-ranked Japanese opponent Yuji Hamano 155-150 at the Panathinaiko Stadium.

Prasad led from the beginning, and will now take on Ron van der Hoff of the Netherlands in the second round on Tuesday.

Reena faces Himalayan task

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With experienced Dola Banerjee out, the focus in the women8217;s section is now fixed on two Indians in fray 8212; Reena Kumari and Sumangala Sharma. But the prequarterfinal contest could be either intersting or intriguing for Reena because the Indian archer cannot take her opponent Tshering Chhoden of Bhutan lightly. The 24-year-old from the Himalayan kingdom 8212; one of the two-member contingent 8212; not only scored a rare first round win for her country in Olympics but enhanced her reputation by upsetting the 11th seeded Chinese Lin Sang. The win has, indeed, given the Bhutanese enough confidence to take on the Indian. As for Sumangala, her showdown will be against Kirstin Jean Lewis of South Africa, said to be a top archer.