Auburndale (USA), Apr 14: India wrapped up their campaign at the Archery World Cup Stage 1 with a creditable four medals, including a silver in the men’s recurve team event and a bronze by rising star Dhiraj Bommadevara in the individual recurve category, here on Sunday.
The 23-year-old Army archer Dhiraj showed exceptional grit and composure to clinch the bronze medal match, bouncing back from a 2-4 deficit to beat Andres Temino Mediel of Spain 6-4 in a tense five-setter.
Earlier in the day, he was also part of the Indian trio alongside veterans Tarundeep Rai and Atanu Das that settled for silver after a 1-5 loss to China in the team final.
India’s medal tally from the tournament stood at four — gold in the compound mixed team, bronze in compound men’s team, silver in recurve men’s team and bronze in recurve men’s individual (Dhiraj).
India’s campaign also saw Abhishek Verma narrowly miss out on a medal, finishing fourth in the compound men’s individual section.
In the bronze medal match, Dhiraj and Mediel tied the first set 28-28.
The Spaniard then edged ahead 29-28 in the second set with two 10s, while Dhiraj could manage only one, to take a 3-1 lead.
The third set was again deadlocked at 29-29, putting Dhiraj under pressure.
But the young Indian responded with a brilliant fourth set, hitting two 10s (including an X, the arrow closer to the centre) to win it 29-28 and level the score at 4-4.
In the deciding set, Dhiraj was ice-cool under pressure, nailing three perfect 10s to seal a well-deserved bronze.
Earlier in the semifinals, he had lost 1-7 to world No 4 and Paris Olympics silver medallist Florian Unruh of Germany, who proved too strong with consistently high scoring.
Earlier, the Indian men’s recurve team of Dhiraj, Tarundeep Rai and Atanu Das started well in the gold medal match against China, tying the first set 54-54.
However, inconsistency in the second set—marked by two 8s allowed the Chinese trio of Li Zhongyuan, Kao Wenchao and Wang Yan to pull ahead with a 58-55 scoreline.
India needed to win the third set to stay in the contest, but again slipped with an 8, narrowly losing 54-55, as China clinched the gold with a 5-1 scoreline. (PTI)
