Reena defies elements to reach round of 16

‘‘I am not happy with my score today’’, Reena said after the win. ‘‘It was windy and not easy to give off your best. But my coach had asked me to just shoot naturally and this is what I did.’’

It was Reena’s second consecutive victory over the Bhutanese girl. And it was a stirring performance, given that the archers enjoy neither corporate support nor mass appeal.

The Bhutanese girl was visibly upset as the two archers went in for the tie breaker and buckled under the pressure. ‘‘I was taken aback when we tied and faltered in the tie-breaker’’, Tshering admitted. ‘‘But I have the satisfaction of performing better than any previous woman Olympic archer from my country.’’

Even in her defeat to an Indian, Choden thanked India for laying the foundations of modern competitive archery in Bhutan. It was L N Khurana, a physical education teacher from Delhi’s Modern School, who did the spadework for archery in the mountain kingdom in the sixties.

However, young Sumangala Sharma could not match Reena’s performance, losing 157-153 to Jean Kirstin Lewis of South Africa.

Dola Banerjee completes the Indian women’s trio at Athens. But like her two junior colleagues, she also does not enjoy fan following at home. But how did she come in the archery? ‘‘It was a love at first sight,’’ she recalls.

In ancient times archery was a tool for survival. Whether to hunt for food or to protect from the enemy, man used bow and arrow as an integral part of his life. But historical records show that since time immemorial archery was also practiced widely as a sport and was considered one of the favourite pastimes of the gods.

Satyadev also in round of 16

Satyadev Prasad moved into the pre-quarterfinal of the men’s individual archery competition in the Olympic Games here today. Prasad beat Ron van der Hoff of Holland 158-155 in the second round at the Panathinkiko Stadium.