Hyderabad, Oct 18 (IANS) Mighty Marathas were crowned champions of Archery Premier League Season 2 as they bounced back from a defeat earlier in the day against Kakatiya Knights in the first qualifier and defeated the same opponents in the grand final here on Sunday.
Led by a sensational performance by their recurve star Dhiraj Bommadevara who finished the final off with an arrow into the inner X-ring as Marathas beat local franchise Knights 6-2.
While Dhiraj shot an unbelievable 79 out of 80 in the title clash, leading the way for Marathas was ‘Mr. Perfect’ Mike Schloesser, who lived up to his nickname and finished with 80 out of the possible 80.
The Knights entered the final riding high on a win over Marathas on Saturday in the last league match as well as another victory against the same opponents in the first qualifier. But Marathas had to take the scenic route, after losing to Knights but defeating Prithviraaj Yodhas in the second eliminator to earn their place in the finale.
“Believing in each other, keeping patience, and attack-attack-attack,” Dhiraj said, when asked what the mantra was behind the Marathas’ turnaround. “To be honest, the truth is that we changed nothing after losing the first match (qualifier against Knights), and that I think is the beauty of this team.” Fittingly, Dhiraj would be crowned the male recurve archer of the day as well as the entire tournament.
Marathas were also rewarded for smart substitutions during the day’s play, ensuring they used their bench strength to good effect.
Despite shooting pretty well in the first match, Aman Saini was replaced by the Dutch superstar Schloesser before the second eliminator and he would go on to score 79 in that match, followed by the perfect 80 in the final.
Another tactical move was to replace the experienced international star Alejandra Valencia with Simranjeet Kaur in the middle of the second match, and the Indian would come through under pressure situations for the Marathas too.
Knights and Marathas started the final with a split set of 75-75 as Neeraj Chauhan’s 8 with the final arrow would prove costly while Dhiraj hit a 10. The second set was even more thrilling as Dhiraj shot two inner-10s. Both Neeraj and Dhiraj stepped up in the third set, but Marathas were able to tie another set to stay ahead, despite a couple of low scores from the recurve archers.
Knights now knew they had to win the final set to force a shootoff, but the pressure was felt on their initial arrows as all four archers – Nico Wiener, Jyothi Surekha Vennam, Elia Canales and Neeraj – shot 9s. From there it was an uphill task, while Marathas scored a breathtaking 79 to close it out in style.
Earlier in the day, in the Shortcut Decider between the first two teams, Mighty Marathas and Kakatiya Knights put on a sensational show, in a match that ebbed and flowed. Knights took the lead, then Marathas fought back to clinch the next two sets. The Knights took a fourth set when Dhiraj could have won the match with his final arrow, meaning a Hit-or-Miss Shootoff was required.
Knights’ foreign stars then stepped up in the tiebreaker as Wiener and Canales nailed the inner golden ring for a 2-0 win.
Having to bounce back from the disappointment of the defeat, Marathas did admirably well against Prithviraaj Yodhas in the second Eliminator to win 5-3 and set up a rematch that witnessed the reversal of result, much to the joy of Marathas.
The world’s first franchise-based archery league, APL is initiated by the Archery Association of India and comprises six teams and a total of 48 archers, with 36 Indians and 12 elite international stars. The league, which took place at People’s Plaza in Hyderabad, culminated on October 18 with the grand finale that crowned new champions.
–IANS
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