Paddler Archana qualifies for Youth Olympics
Saturday - June 9, 2018 3:54 pm ,
Category : SPORTS
Paddler Archana qualifies for Youth Olympics
Rarotonga (Cook Islands) June 9 (IANS) Paddler Archana Girish Kamath registered a 4-1 (11-5 9-11 11-8 11-9 11-8) win over Malaysian Chang Alice Li Sian in the Oceania leg of the 2018 Youth Olympic Games qualiying series here.
Archana who jumped a few places in this month s ranking to be at No. 12 in the world on Friday qualified for the Buenos Aires Games in her last chance after having failed to seal her berth at Rades (Tunisia) and Bangkok (Thailand) despite reaching the semi-finals in the latter.
Archana who arrived here on Wednesday after a 36-hour journey with long layovers-from Bengaluru to Dubai and Auckland to destination in the Cook Islands put behind her weariness and concentrated on the job at hand quickly going for a practice session with chief coach Massimo Costantini in toe on the evening soon after landing.
The top-seeded India had a first-round bye but in the second round it was tough against the Philippines Jannah Maryam Romeron who not only went ahead with a 2-0 lead but also posed a lot of problems for Archana.
However the determined Indian won the crucial third game with a minimal margin and the next on extended points to restore parity.
From there it was a confident Archana who thumped her rival from the Philippines to enter the semifinals with a 11-13 8-11 11-9 13-11 11-7 11-3.
In the semi-finals it was an easy affair for the world No. 12 as she beat Iran s Mahshid Ashtari 11-2 11-7 11-7 11-5 and in the final a cautious Archana dropped just one game before overpowering her Malaysian opponent 4-1 to seal her berth.
"I am really happy for Archana " said Costantini in an official release. "It was worth the trip to Cook Islands " the Italian added.
In the men s singles Manav Thakkar has already qualified for the Games to be held in October.
--IANS pur/vm
Archana who jumped a few places in this month s ranking to be at No. 12 in the world on Friday qualified for the Buenos Aires Games in her last chance after having failed to seal her berth at Rades (Tunisia) and Bangkok (Thailand) despite reaching the semi-finals in the latter.
Archana who arrived here on Wednesday after a 36-hour journey with long layovers-from Bengaluru to Dubai and Auckland to destination in the Cook Islands put behind her weariness and concentrated on the job at hand quickly going for a practice session with chief coach Massimo Costantini in toe on the evening soon after landing.
The top-seeded India had a first-round bye but in the second round it was tough against the Philippines Jannah Maryam Romeron who not only went ahead with a 2-0 lead but also posed a lot of problems for Archana.
However the determined Indian won the crucial third game with a minimal margin and the next on extended points to restore parity.
From there it was a confident Archana who thumped her rival from the Philippines to enter the semifinals with a 11-13 8-11 11-9 13-11 11-7 11-3.
In the semi-finals it was an easy affair for the world No. 12 as she beat Iran s Mahshid Ashtari 11-2 11-7 11-7 11-5 and in the final a cautious Archana dropped just one game before overpowering her Malaysian opponent 4-1 to seal her berth.
"I am really happy for Archana " said Costantini in an official release. "It was worth the trip to Cook Islands " the Italian added.
In the men s singles Manav Thakkar has already qualified for the Games to be held in October.
--IANS pur/vm
