India win two gold, one silver at World Archery Para Series Stage III
India clinched two gold and one silver medal at the World Archery Para Series Stage III here on Tuesday, September 8, with the men's recurve and compound teams winning their respective finals while the women's recurve team finished runners-up.
The men's compound pair of reigning world champion Toman Kumar and Shyam Sunder Swami defeated Iraq's Abbas Kadhim and Anwer Aldawod 152-139, while the recurve duo of double Paralympic medallist Harvinder Singh and Vijay Sundi overcame Slovakia 6-2 to complete India's gold-medal sweep in the men's team events.
The women's recurve combination of Bhawna and Pooja, however, endured a difficult final and went down 0-6 to China to settle for silver.
India also narrowly missed a medal in the women's compound team event, with Sheetal Devi and Payal Nag losing their bronze-medal playoff to China's Wang Huiting and Gao Fangxia.
Swami and Toman made a slow start in the compound final, scoring an 8 in the opening end, but quickly found their rhythm. They were particularly accurate over the next 12 arrows, dropping only five points to build a commanding lead.
The Indian pair maintained its high scoring and consistent arrow execution thereafter to comfortably seal the gold.
Harvinder and Sundi had to fight back after Slovakia's David Ivan and Denis Ivan took the opening set 37-34. India responded by winning the next three sets 36-31, 38-34 and 35-31.
The Indians struggled initially, shooting a 7 and failing to register a 10 in the opening set, but quickly settled into their rhythm.
The turning point came in the third set, when Harvinder and Sundi produced three 10s to move 4-2 ahead. They maintained their composure in the fourth set to complete the comeback and secure gold.
Harvinder, who became the first Indian archer to win a Paralympic medal with bronze at Tokyo 2020, created further history by becoming the first Indian archer to win Paralympic gold at Paris 2024.
Bhawna and Pooja were unable to match China's consistency in the women's recurve final, losing 23-34, 33-35, 30-31.
The Indian pair struggled from the outset, shooting 4, 5 and 6 in the opening set as China established a sizeable advantage. Though India improved in the second set with three 8s and a 9, it could not close the gap.
Another difficult third set, including a 5 and a 7, ended India's hopes of a comeback. The pair did not manage a single 10 throughout the final.
Sheetal and Payal also missed out on bronze after losing their women's compound playoff to Wang and Gao.
The Indians stayed within one point of China at 73-74 after the second end, but a poor third end allowed the Chinese pair to pull away and secure the bronze.