Indian Women’s Recurve Team Upsets Korea to Reach Archery World Cup Final

Shanghai: India’s women’s recurve team produced a remarkable performance to defeat 10-time Olympic champions South Korea and secure a place in the final of the Archery World Cup Stage 2 on Thursday.

The Indian trio of Deepika Kumari, Ankita Bhakat and young archer Kumkum Mohod stunned the Korean team of Lee Yunji, Oh Yejin and reigning world champion Kang Chaeyoung with a 5-1 victory in the semifinal. With the win, India also assured itself of a medal and will now face second-seeded China in the gold medal match on Sunday.

India started strongly and took the early advantage with a confident opening set. The second set ended in a tie at 56 points each, allowing both teams to share the set points while India maintained a 2-1 lead.

In the final set, the Indian archers delivered under pressure. After beginning with two 9s, they finished with three perfect 10s and an X to seal a memorable win and book their spot in the final.

However, India’s men’s recurve team of Dhiraj Bommadevara, Tarundeep Rai and Yashdeep Sanjay Bhoge crashed out in the opening round after a 2-6 defeat against Bangladesh.

The compound teams also endured a disappointing outing. The mixed pair of Ojas and Aditi Gopichand Swami lost 156-157 to the American duo of Alexis Ruiz and James Lutz in the quarterfinals.

India’s recurve mixed team of Ankita and Dhiraj suffered a narrow 5-4 loss to Brazil’s Ana Luiza Sliachticas Caetano and Marcus D’Almeida in a closely fought opening-round contest.

Earlier, the world No. 1 Indian men’s compound team of Ojas Pravin Deotale, Sahil Rajesh Jadhav and Kushal Dalal lost 234-235 to the United States in the semifinals. The team later missed out on bronze after losing to China in a dramatic shoot-off, where the Chinese archers edged ahead with two Xs against India’s one.

The women’s compound team featuring Aditi, Pragati and Jyothi Surekha Vennam was also knocked out after a 227-233 quarterfinal defeat against Turkey.

With inputs from IANS