Hyd : Chero Archers Beat Kakatiya Knights 6-0 in Archery Premier League
Led by in-form Atanu Das, Chero Archers produced a dominant performance to strengthen their position in the early stages of the tournament.
Kakatiya Knights, meanwhile, have two wins and two defeats from four matches.
The Knights made a change to their starting line-up, replacing Austrian compound archer Nico Wiener with Shivshankar Landkar.
Landkar and Jyothi Surekha Vennam showed good form, but the Chero Archers proved too strong, with Das leading the recurve challenge and world No. 1 Mathias Fullerton spearheading the compound squad ahead of Sahil Rajesh Jadhav.
Fullerton emerged as the highest scorer of the match with 59 points from six arrows.
Chero Archers began strongly in the opening set, scoring 69 out of a possible 70 from their first seven arrows.
Casey Kaufhold’s final-arrow six did little to affect their advantage.
In the second set, Das produced a superb arrow that landed in the X-ring, helping his team maintain its lead.
The third set witnessed a close contest, with both teams tied at 38-38 after four arrows each.
Under pressure, Das struck another 10 to bring the score to 67-67 before Kaufhold delivered the decisive shot to seal the set and complete the 6-0 victory.
“Last year was tough for us. This time, we have a super-strong team and we are managing the time really well,” Das said after the match.
Kaufhold said she viewed the time pressure as part of the challenge, adding that she focused on shooting a good arrow even when the countdown reached 11 seconds.
The Archery Premier League, initiated by the Archery Association of India, is the world’s first franchise-based archery league.
The tournament features six teams and 48 archers, including 36 Indians and 12 international competitors.
The competition is being held at People’s Plaza in Hyderabad and will conclude on October 18.
The top four teams will qualify for the semifinals, followed by the title clash.
On Monday, Chero Archers will take on Mighty Marathas, defending champions Rajputana Royals will face Chola Chiefs, and Prithviraaj Yodhas will meet Kakatiya Knights.
