Hyderabad, Oct 13 Shaking off a sluggish start to their campaign, title holders Rajputana Royals injected fresh life into their Archery Premier League defence, sweeping past the high-flying Chero Archers with a composed display here on Tuesday.
The Royals, who went through a rut with three straight defeats before turning it around on Monday, were in terrific rhythm as they thrashed Chero 6-0 without dropping a set.
The result moved Royals to six points and keeps them firmly in semifinals contention, while Chero also remain on the same tally. The star of the show for Royals was compound world No. 1 Ella Gibson, who didn’t leave the 10-ring at all and scored 60 out of a possible 60.
Chero, who went back to their recurve international archer in Casey Kaufhold ahead of Kumkum Mohod, lost the first set 73-74 after the American started with a costly 7. In the second set, Royals edged ahead 76-75 with Chero paying the price for a couple of 9s from their compound archers.
The third set was tied at 58-58 after six arrows each and then Atanu Das, who has otherwise been in fine form when selected, hit a rare 8. For Royals, Sangeeta, who was playing her first match in place of Ankita Bhakat, responded with a sensational 10.
With an 8 needed to win, Tokyo Olympic champion Mete Gazoz delivered a 9 and brought out his signature celebration and some thigh-fives with his team.
“We didn’t start well over the first four days. I guess everybody misses us because I think the APL needs more energy and more dancing and now we’re giving that,” Gazoz quipped after the win.
(PTI News)
