Mighty Marathas Dominate Chola Chiefs For First APL Victory

Mighty Marathas secured their first win of the Archery Premier League season on Saturday, defeating Chola Chiefs 6-0.

The Marathas, led by Mike Schloesser and Dhiraj Bommadevara, bounced back after losing both their opening matches.

Mike Schloesser, 'Mr. Perfect', shot 10s with all six arrows, contributing significantly to the Marathas' victory.

Chola Chiefs suffered their second defeat in three matches, with key archers like Chikitha Taniparthi struggling to maintain pressure.

Upcoming matches include Chero Archers vs. Kakatiya Knights on Sunday, Chola Chiefs vs. 

Prithviraaj Yodhas, and Mighty Marathas vs. defending champions Rajputana Royals.

Mighty Marathas bounced back after losing both their opening matches to beat Chola Chiefs in the second season of Archery Premier League here on Saturday. The Marathas, led by Mike Schloesser and anchored by Dhiraj Bommadevara under time pressure, beat Chiefs 6-0 for their first win of the tournament, while Chiefs have now suffered two defeats in three matches.

Marathas' Dominant Performance

Schloesser, nicknamed 'Mr. Perfect', lived up to the billing as he shot 10s with all six arrows for Marathas.

The Chiefs stuck to their tactic from Day 2 as they opted for their compound archers to shoot back-to-back at the start of the set. But Chikitha Taniparthi's two 9s meant they couldn't impose scoreboard pressure on their opponents. Marathas' recurve archers shot a couple of 8s but their compound archers had done enough to ensure they take the first set 74-73.

In the second set, Marathas' star recurve archer Bommadevara came up with a super 10 under pressure of the clock winding down and the Mighty Marathas took a 4-0 lead. It was another set of 9s for Taniparthi in the second set, which prompted the Chiefs to unsurprisingly bring on Colombia's Alejandra Usquiano, who was on fire on the second day.

In the third set, after a decent start from the compound archers, Deepika Kumari and Marcus D'Almeida couldn't keep the pressure on as they erred outside of the yellow zone on the target. The Marathas held it steady to take a low-scoring set 74-72 and ensure the match was wrapped up even before the fourth set.

Upcoming Archery Premier League Fixtures

On Sunday, the Chero Archers will look to continue their strong start to the season as they take on local franchise Kakatiya Knights.

Chola Chiefs will have to bounce back when they face Prithviraaj Yodhas.

In the final match, the rejuvenated Mighty Marathas go up against defending champions Rajputana Royals.