DAKAR: India's lone archer Gatha Khadake made a confident start to her campaign at the Youth Olympics, cruising into the pre-quarterfinals of the women's recurve under-18 event with a straight-set 6-0 win over Ivory Coast's Sita Sore, here on Saturday. The third-seeded Gatha was in complete control throughout the first round contest, winning 28-21, 28-24, 28-19 to wrap up the match without dropping a sweat. The 16-year-old was consistent across all three sets, scoring 28 points each time and dropping just two points from her six arrows in every set. Sore struggled to keep pace, managing scores of 21, 24 and 19. Gatha opened with two 9s and a 10 to take the first set 28-21. She followed it up with two 9s and an X in the second to extend her lead to 4-0. The Indian then completed the rout with an X, a 10 and an eight in the third set, while Sore managed just 19 points, including two fives.
The archer from a village near Solapur in Maharashtra has already gained valuable international experience despite her young age, having made her senior debut at the World Cup Stage 4 in Madrid last year.
She defeated Chinese Taipei's Chiu Yi-Ching, a 2022 World Cup bronze medallist, to reach the pre-quarterfinals there. Her most notable performance came at the World Championships in Gwangju last year, where she made an impressive run to the fourth round. With experienced Indian archers Deepika Kumari and Ankita Bhakat having exited earlier, Gatha was the country's last competitor in the fray before losing to Korean Olympic medallist Lim Sihyeon. Gatha will next face Bulgaria's 14th seed Neda Kenderova in the round of 16 on Monday