Indian paddler Archana Girish Kamath had to use all her skills, energy and nerves to overcome Azerbaijan's Nign Jing 4-3 and enter the semifinals of the Youth Olympics here.
She pulled of a 13-11, 8-11, 6-11, 11-3, 6-11, 12-10, 11-7 in the quarterfinals here on Tuesday.
In the semifinals, she takes on China's Yingsha Sun. A win against the Chinese will put her into the medal round straightaway, failing which the Indian will have a shot at the playoff for the bronze.
But the spectacular fight she put in the Argentina capital must have given her enough confidence ahead of the last four fixture.
After taking the extended first game, Archana was hit back by Ning Jing, a Chinese origin player from Azerbaijan, who went 2-1 up to mount pressure on the Indian. But Archana was up to the task and levelled 3-3 before dropping the next.
At this junction, the 18-year-old had to muster courage to keep her nerves calm and approach the match with composure. And she did it marvellously to first erase the deficit and in the decider, playing like a champion, she simply demolished her opponent.
"It was a tough match and she fought till the very end. So I am very happy that I could win. But credit should also go her because she played really well, said Archana.