Hyderabad, Oct 17 (IANS) After coming through a must-win last league phase match, Prithviraaj Yodhas defeated Chero Archers in Eliminator 1 to stay alive in Season 2 of the Archery Premier League (APL) in Hyderabad on Saturday.
With their chances of qualifying for the playoffs coming down to the wire, Yodhas first had to defeat defending champions Rajputana Royals, and they did just that in fine fashion, 6-0. And stepping back into the field immediately for the first knockout match, Yodhas made it back-to-back wins as they defeated Chero Archers 5-1.
The women led the way for Yodhas as young recurve sensation Gatha Khadake, 16, shot an impressive 56 out of 60 while compound star Andrea Becerra shot a perfect 60. Gatha had also shot 56 in the must-win clash against Royals and walked away with the award for best recurve female archer of the day. Becerra, across both matches, didn’t miss the 10-ring to finish the day with 120 out of 120.
Both Chero and Yodhas began the day aware of the fact that they had to win their respective last league matches to progress to the playoffs. Chero beat Chola Chiefs in a thrilling shootoff after the match was tied 4-4. Compound World No. 1 Mathias Fullerton was the only archer to hit the inner yellow ring in the Hit-or-Miss shootoff.
In the first match of the day, between the top two teams, Kakatiya Knights outplayed Mighty Marathas 6-0 to emerge as the table-toppers.
On Sunday, action will begin with a rematch between Mighty Marathas and Kakatiya Knights in a contest that will decide the first finalist of the season. The loser of that match will shoot in the second contest against Prithviraaj Yodhas. And then to conclude the exciting season, it’ll be time for the grand finale.
Archery Premier League, the world’s first franchise-based archery league, is initiated by the Archery Association of India (AAI) and comprises six teams and a total of 48 archers, with 36 Indians and 12 elite international stars. The league, taking place at People’s Plaza in Hyderabad, will culminate on October 18 with the grand finale.
In Eliminator 1, on what was perhaps the toughest day to shoot during this season because of the gusty conditions, Yodhas and Chero split the first set 75-75. Gatha, in fact, started with an 8 before recovering superbly during the rest of the contest.
Atanu Das, who had been in good form right through the tournament, struggled with his rhythm here as an 8 from him proved costly. He’d start the second set with a 7, and that would again cost Chero as they managed a 74 while Yodhas, led by their compound archers Ganesh Mani Ratnam Thirumuru and Becerra, scored 77.
The third set would turn out to be even better for Yodhas as Ganesh, Becerra, Gatha and Matias Grande combined for a sensational 79 while Chero, despite starting the set well, fell off and finished with 75.
BEST ARCHERS OF THE DAY (Rs 1 lakh reward each):
Recurve male: Marcus D’Almeida (Chiefs)
Recurve female: Gatha Anandrao Khadake (Yodhas)
Compound male: Nico Wiener (Knights)
Compound female: Jyothi Surekha Vennam (Knights) and Andrea Becerra (Yodhas)
SCORES – DAY 10:
Match 1: Kakatiya Knights 6-0 (77-69, 72-64, 78-74) Mighty Marathas
Match 2: Chero Archers 4-4 (70-74, 73-68, 74-69, 73-76) Chola Chiefs; Chero won the shootout 1-0
Match 3: Prithviraaj Yodhas 6-0 (76-73, 74-72, 78-73) Rajputana Royals
Eliminator 1: Prithviraaj Yodhas 5-1 (75-75, 77-74, 79-75) Chero Archers
–IANS
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