Archery Premier League: Rajputana Royals Beat Chero Archers 6-0 for Second Straight Win

Hyderabad: Defending champions Rajputana Royals bounced back from a poor run of results to register their second consecutive win, defeating high-flying Chero Archers in the second season of the Archery Premier League here on Tuesday.

After suffering three consecutive defeats, the Royals turned their campaign around on Monday and continued their resurgence with a commanding 6-0 victory over Chero, winning all three sets.

The result took the Royals to six points and kept them firmly in contention for a semifinal berth. Chero also remained on six points.

The star of the show for the Royals was compound world No. 1 Ella Gibson, who hit the 10-ring with every arrow to score a perfect 60 out of 60.

Chero opted for their international recurve archer Casey Kaufhold ahead of Kumkum Mohod but lost the opening set 73-74 after the American started with a costly seven. The Royals edged the second set 76-75, with Chero paying the price for a couple of nines from their compound archers.

The third set was tied at 58-58 after both teams had shot six arrows each. Atanu Das, who has otherwise been in fine form when selected, then hit a rare eight. For the Royals, Sangeeta, playing her first match in place of Ankita Bhakat, responded with a sensational 10.

Needing an eight to win, Tokyo Olympic champion Mete Gazoz delivered a nine, sealing the victory before breaking into his trademark celebration and exchanging high-fives with his teammates.

“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 said after the win.