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Wife Deepika Kumari's words inspired Atanu Das for gold
Updated On: 27 April, 2021 07:11 AM IST | Kolkata | PTI
Trailing 2-4, Das stepped up in the fourth set, shooting 28 and in the decider he was a class apart, drilling three perfect 10s to seal the issue 6-2. He celebrated his first ever World Cup individual gold with a punch in the air.
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Atanu Das with Deepika Kumari
For 13 years, a World Cup individual medal eluded India`s number one in men`s archery, Atanu Das. However, it all changed on Sunday in faraway Guatemala City thanks to his archer wife Deepika Kumari, whose inspiring words and bigger sporting feats pushed Das to go the extra mile and show the world that he is second to none. On the final day of the competition, Das converted his maiden World Cup medal into gold with utmost precision, less than a year after getting married to the former world number one.
"She (Deepika) deserves most of the credit for my transformation," Das told PTI from Guatemala City, moments after he defeated Spaniard Daniel Castro in the men`s final. It was a golden treble for India`s star archery couple, `Dee-Das`. Deepika won her first individual gold after three years, and a team gold for the first time since 2014. The real turnaround came for Das who had struggled to get an individual medal at the highest level since making his debut in 2008. "Seeing her perform best at the highest level, sometimes, I would get mentally depressed to cope up. I would keep working hard and ask myself `when would my turn come?`," Das said. He had lost the bronze play-off to Kim Woojin in Antalya World Cup in 2016, in his previous best performance. "I would feel bad that I`m not able to match her standards till now. Deepika would get really angry the moment she would see me upset."
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