CHENNAI : Poor showings by Indian recurve archers continued as none of them were able to make the medal rounds in the World Cup Stage 1 in Shanghai. The only cheers came through the compound section as both the men’s and women’s team will fight it out for bronze.Atanu Das was the lone man survivor from the previous rounds. The World No 21 lost his fourth round battle to lower-ranked Riau Ega Agatha of Indonesia 0-6. The men’s team of Atanu, Sukhchain Singh and Ajay lost to Chinese Taipei in the very first round. Among women, both Ankita Bhakat and Deepika Kumari lost their fourth round clashes. The women’s team (Deepika, Ankita, Promila) did produce some quality performances but ultimately fell to China in the quarters.
Compound archery was the most profitable for India last year with two medals — team gold in World Cup Stage 1 in China and mixed team bronze in Stage 2 in Turkey. That continued here too as both the men’s and women’s compound teams will fight it out for bronze on Saturday. Mixed events of both disciplines will commence from Friday.
Results: Recurve: Men: 4th round: Atanu Das lost 0-6 to Riau Ega Agatha (Indonesia). Women: Ankita Bhakat lost 4-6 to Qixuan An (China); Deepika Kumari lost 1-7 Cao Hui (China). Team: Round 1: Men: India (Atanu, Sukhchain, Ajay) 0-6 Chinese Taipei; Women: Quarterfinal: India (Ankita Bhakat, Deepika Kumari, Promila Daimary) 1-5 China. Compound: Men: 4th round: Abhishek Verma 146-150 Federico Pagnoni (Italy).
Friday schedule: Team: Mixed: Compound: Abhishek Verma & Jyothi Surekha Vennam) vs Vietnam. Recurve: (Atanu, Ankita) vs Slovenia. Saturday schedule: Team (bronze-medal match): Men: India vs France (Abhishek Verma, Rajat Chauhan, Chinna Raju Srither). Women: India vs Netherlands (Jyothi Surekha Vennam, Muskan Kirar, Madhumita Kumari).