Singapore, June 19: Indian junior archers continued their dominating run by storming into five team finals at the Asia Cup Stage 2 here on Thursday.
The Indian men’s recurve team, seeded second, defeated Bangladesh 5-1 in a one-sided semifinal to set up a summit clash with third seeds Japan.
The trio of Vishnu Choudhary, Paras Hooda and Juyel Sarkar dominated from the outset, taking the opening set 55-48.
Although the second set was tied at 55-55, the Indians bounced back strongly against their fifth-seeded opponents, dropping just one point in the third set to win it 59-56 and seal the issue.
In the recurve mixed team event, Vaishnavi Pawar and Vishnu Choudhary defeated Singapore’s Tabitha Ern Lin Yeo and Yue Long Li 5-3 to enter the final.
The Indian pair won the first set 37-35, tied the second 37-all, and lost the third 36-38 to make it 3-3. But Pawar and Choudhary held their nerves to close out the match with a commanding 38-34 win in the final set.
India also assured themselves of a medal in the compound men’s team event after the trio of Kushal Dalal, Ganesh Thirumuru and Mihir Apar edged past fifth-seeded Australia in a tense semifinal decided by a shoot-off (30-29) after both teams were tied at 232 after four sets.
India will take on Kazakhstan in the final.
The top-seeded Indian compound women’s team comprising Shanmukhi Budde, Tejal Salve and Tanishka Thokal defeated fourth-seeded Kazakhstan 230-229 in a nail-biting semifinal to ensure another medal. They will meet Malaysia in the final.
The top-seeded Indian compound mixed team pairing of Shanmukhi and Kushal also confirmed another medal by defeating Indonesia’s Nurisa Dian Ashrifah and Prima Wisnu Wardhana 155-154 in a nail-biting semifinal.
They will face third-seeded Kazakhstan in the final.
However, there was heartbreak for the Indian women’s recurve team. Seeded fifth, the troika of Vaishnavi Pawar, Kirti, and Tamanna lost a thrilling quarterfinal to fourth seeds Japan 4-5 (26-28) in the shoot-off after a five-set battle.
They lost the opening set 47-49 and slumped further after managing only 34 in the second set to Japan’s 55.
But the Indians showed great resilience to take the third set 55-53 and level the scores 4-4 after claiming the fourth set 54-52.
In the shoot-off, Japan edged ahead by just two points.
Indian archers are also in the hunt for four individual medals on the concluding day on Friday.
The women’s compound final will be an all-Indian affair, with Shanmukhi set to face Tejal for gold.
In the men’s compound section, India will be in the hunt in both the gold and bronze medal matches.
Kushal will face Joshua Mahon of Australia for the gold, while Sachin Chechi will take on Himu Bachhar of Bangladesh for bronze. (PTI)
