Atanu Das into last 16 of Olympic archery event

Atanu Das made his Olympic debut at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games earlier in the week. The 24-year-old scored 683 on the ranking round on the day of the Opening Ceremony to seed fifth in the men’s individual competition.

Now, four days later, he’s won his first two matches in style and secured a place in the last 16 in Rio.

“I was excited for the first match, and little scared too, because it was my first match at my first Olympics, then one thing came into my mind: That I will do my job, that’s it,” Atanu said.

“I didn't expect too much, I just shot confident shots and they hit the 10.”

Atanu won his first match, against Tripartite athlete Jitbahadur Muktan from Nepal, in straight sets. It was a performance that could have beaten a favourite, as Das put in sets of 29, 29 and 30 points for the 6-0 victory.

His second match against Cuban archer Adrian Puentes was grittier.

Though Puentes quickly fell 4-0 behind, he took advantage of two 10-less sets from Das to draw things level. Das rallied, closing with a strong 29, to reclaim control of the contest and book his ticket into the last 16.

The last Indian man to get as far in Olympic competition was Satya Dev Prasad in Athens in 2004. Prasad finished 10th overall in those Games.

“Different time, different pressure,” Atanu replied when asked of the expectation on his shoulders. “In any condition, I will do my job.”

On Friday 12 August, Atanu faces Korea’s Lee Seungyun – a World Archery Champion in 2011 – for a place in the quarterfinals.

The young man from Kolkata, who said he casually started archery before things got serious, has come a long way – and done it by his own force of will. Since 2013, when he left the TATA Archery Academy he’d been training at for five years, he hasn’t had a personal coach.

Now, at the Games, he’s got a support staff and women’s team to stand behind him.

Das isn’t relying on them, though.

“I will do my job,” he said, again. “One shot at a time, every time.”

The men’s individual finals take place on 12 August at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.