Mighty Marathas and Rajputana Royals enter Archery Premier League semifinals

New Delhi, Oct 9 (PTI) Mighty Marathas entered the semifinals of the inaugural Archery Premier League after beating Chola Chiefs 5-1 here on Thursday.

Rajputana Royals also made it to the last four stage despite losing to Prithivraaj Yodhas 0-6. It was Rajputana Royals' first defeat after seven consecutive wins.

The day started with the Marathas’ win over the Chola Chiefs. Brady Ellison for the Chiefs and Parneet Kaur for the Marathas were in brilliant 10-hitting form in the first set, but it was Dhiraj Bommadevara’s 10 on the last Maratha arrow just before the buzzer that stood out and tied the first set at 76-76 for one point to each of the two teams.

The second set saw the Marathas holding their nerves towards the end, while a couple of loose arrows from the Chiefs under pressure, which included an 8 from recurver Deepika, left the MM recurver Dhiraj with a 9 to get on the final arrow. He delivered a 10, and Marathas took the set 78-76 and the two points for a 3-1 lead.

In the third set, Chola's experienced recurvers Ellison and Deepika faltered under pressure with three consecutive 8s, two of which came from Deepika, which allowed the Marathas to edge ahead by a point to win the set 75-74 and the match 5-1.

Prithviraaj Yodhas, meanwhile, stunned the unbeaten Royals, beginning the game with a 76-74 win in the first set as the experienced compounder and captain Abhishek Verma led from the front.

Verma stayed consistent for the Yodhas, starting the second set with a 10, followed by a 10 from Matias Grande. But the energetic Ojas Deotale stayed hot on the Yodhas’ heels with consistently high scoring.

Verma was in the zone and got his second 10 of the set to keep the Yodhas ahead 49-47. However, Ella Gibson’s second 10 kept the Royals within touching distance. Towards the end, Andrea Becera and Grande held their nerves under pressure with crucial 10s, which saw the Yodhas taking the second set 78-77 for 4-0 lead.

Deotale set the tone for the Royals in the must-win set with a 10. But Verma didn’t relent and gave a head start to the Yodhas with another 10. After four arrows each, the Yodhas were ahead 38-37.

Deotale and Verma delivered 10s again in the battle of two Indians. The cool-headed Becera joined in a 10-hitting fest, which sealed a massive win for the Yodhas, who won the set 76-75 and the match 6-0 to stay alive in the race to the semis.

At the end of day’s matches, the Royals and the Marathas were the two teams booking their place in the semifinals with seven and six wins respectively out of eight matches.

The other two spots will be decided between the Yodhas (8 points), Chiefs (6 points), and the Chero Archers (6 points). Kakatiya Knights are out of the race with just one win in eight matches. PTI PDS PDS DDV