India high on compound archers’ strong show
There was no stopping the dominant run of India’s compound archers as the top-seeded mixed team pair of Rajat Chauhan and Chikitha Taniparthi stormed into the final but the recurve contingent endured disappointment in the Asia Cup World Ranking Tournament Stage 1, here on Thursday.
For India, two bronze medals are already in the bag, five entries are in the finals, and in addition, the country is in contention for two more bronze medals, keeping them on course to surpass last year’s eight-medal haul (five gold, two silver, one bronze).
The compound mixed team duo of Chauhan and Taniparthi, who received a direct entry into the quarterfinals as top seeds, underlined their class with back-to-back wins.
They defeated Chinese Taipei 159-155 in the quarters and then got the better of fourth-seeded Kazakhstan 157-153 in the semifinals.
That the Indian pair dropped just four points from a possible 320 across 32 arrows in the two matches underlined their dominance as they assured the country of its sixth medal overall.
However, in the recurve mixed team event, the top-seeded duo of Ruma Biswas and Devaang Gupta suffered a straight-set defeat to Vietnam’s Thi Dao Loc and Hoang Phi Vu Nguyen in the quarterfinals.
After conceding the opening set 35-37, the Indians improved to 36 in the second but still trailed as the Vietnamese pair edged ahead by a point to take a 4-0 lead.
Vietnam then sealed the contest emphatically, dropping just one point in the third set while the Indians managed 37, capping another underwhelming outing for India’s recurve contingent.
India’s medal surge has been driven by the compound performance, but the recurve archers have failed to live up to expectations.
The recurve unit could not defend individual titles and also returned empty-handed from the mixed team event, in which the pair of Vishnu Choudhary and Basanti Mahato had claimed a silver medal in the previous edition.
Overall, India have reached the finals in women’s recurve individual, men’s recurve team, women’s compound team, mixed compound team, and men’s compound individual, where the country is in line for a clean sweep.
The country is assured of a gold and silver finish in the individual men’s compound event with Prathamesh Jawkar and Uday Kamboj set to clash in an all-Indian final, while Rajat Chauhan will compete for bronze.
In the women’s recurve individual, rising Haryana archer Ridhi Phor entered the final and will be aiming for her maiden individual gold at the international level.
India had opened their account with two bronze medals on Wednesday.
The experienced men’s compound team of Rajat Chauhan, Rishabh Yadav and Uday Kamboj settled for a bronze along with the women’s recurve team of Ruma Biswas, Kirti and Ridhi.
