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  Archery World Cup: Silver lining for women’s team

Archery World Cup: Silver lining for women’s team

PTI
Published : May 2, 2016, 2:45 am IST
Updated : May 2, 2016, 2:45 am IST

Mangal Singh Champia (from left), Atanu Das and Jayanta Talukdar celebrate after bagging the bronze medal at the Archery World Cup in Shanghai on Sunday.

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Mangal Singh Champia (from left), Atanu Das and Jayanta Talukdar celebrate after bagging the bronze medal at the Archery World Cup in Shanghai on Sunday.

The Indian women’s team settled for the silver medal after losing to Chinese Taipei in the final, while the men’s trio and mixed pair won their respective bronze play-offs in the first stage of the Archery World Cup at the Yuanshen Stadium here on Sunday.

The women’s team comprising Deepika Kumari, Bombayla Devi Laishram and Laxmirani Majhi put up an inconsistent show that included an abysmal five in the crucial third set, to lose to lower-ranked Chinese Taipei 2-6 in the recurve team final.

Later, the third seeded Indian men’s recurve team of Atanu Das, Jayanta Talukdar and Mangal Singh Champia brought the smiles back to the Indian camp, hammering the ninth seeded British team 6-0 to bag the bronze.

Meanwhile, the mixed pair of Deepika and Atanu ended India’s campaign on a high, getting the better of the much fancied South Koreans 5-4 in a nerve-wracking shoot-off to end with another bronze.

Trailing 2-4, the top seeded Indian pair bounced back to level 4-4 against third seeds Areum Jo and Seong Cheol Park to take the match to the shoot-off, which again was a tie (18-all) at 9-9.

But since the Indians were closest to the centre in their second 9, it helped them edge out the Koreans.

Earlier, the fourth seeded women’s team shot a poor six and eight to start off on an ominous note, even as the seventh seeded Chinese Taipei trio of Ya-Ting Tan, Chien-Ying Le and Shih-Chia Lin won by four points to take a 2-0 lead in the first set.

An improved show in the second, which had two perfect 10s along with three 9s ensured that the Indians stayed alive to win by two points and level 2-2.

Next up, the Indians shot three perfect 10s but a five and eight jeopardised their chance of a comeback in the crucial third set with the Chinese Taipei team shooting four 10s for a handsome 4-2 lead going into the decider.

There was no end to India’s misery, while Chinese Taipei put up another improved show in the final round to wrap the issue with a five-point win in the fourth set.

Needing a win in the fourth set to take the match into shoot-off, the Indian trio shot a seven along with four 9s and a solitary perfect 10, which turned out to be insufficient against their rivals, who hit four 10s and two 9s for a total 58 out of a maximum 60 to win the set and the gold medal.

Location: China, Shanghai