Archery World Cup Stage 3: Indian men’s recurve team wins bronze

FILE PHOTO: Dhiraj Bommadevara.
| Photo Credit: KVS GIRI/THE HINDU

Indian archers defeated China to win a third bronze medal at the ongoing World Cup Stage 3 on Thursday.

The fourth seeded Indian trio of Tushar Shelke, Mrinal Chauhan and Dhiraj Bommadevara prevailed over China’s Yang Keyang, Li Mengqui and Wang Yan 5-3 (58-54, 55-56, 54-53, 56-56) to seal the bronze medal in the men’s recurve team event.

The recurve women’s team of Bhajan Kaur, Sangeeta and Tanisha, who got a seventh seeding, made a second round exit, going down to their rivals from France 3-5 (52-51, 53-54, 49-55, 52-52).

India had opened its account with a bronze medal each in men’s and women’s team compound events.

Earlier on Wednesday, teenage archer Bhajan grabbed a top-10 finish in the recurve women’s qualification round to brighten up an otherwise lacklustre show.

On a day, Koreans led the show on expected lines, the 17-year-old in her debut World Cup season put up a spirited show to score 668 points for a ninth-place finish in the qualifiers.

Sangeeta (651) and Tanisha Verma (648) were the next best Indians at lowly 30th and 36th places.

Shanghai gold medallist Lim Sihyeon (684) carried her form to lead the Korean 1-2-3 finish in the 72-arrow 70-metre round.

Shelke was the best among the Indians with a lowly 16th place finish in the men’s recurve qualification.

Shelke shot 671 points in a field dominated by Koreans who took the top-three places in the standings with Kim Woojin leading the way with a score of 696, just one off his own Asian record set two years ago.

He finished ahead of Lee Woo Seok and Kim Je Deok, putting a disappointing showing in Shanghai last month behind him.

At 20th place, Chauhan (670) was the next best Indian, one point clear off World Cup Stage 1 bronze medallist Dhiraj who slipped to 23rd spot.

India took the fourth place in the men’s recurve seedings that put it in line for a possible semifinal collision course against the top-seed Koreans.