NEW DELHI: India compound archers reigned supreme over Asian Cup Stage 2 World Ranking Tournament by winning all the medals on offer. They topped the tournament with seven gold, five silver and two bronze in Tashkent on Friday.
The compound archers put up stunning performances to wipe out the men’s and women’s competition by winning five gold, two silver and two bronze medals.
In the hunt for 10 gold medals, India missed out on total dominance with the recurve archers losing three finals, all to their Chinese rivals. But that didn’t stop them dominating the medal tally in the continental showpiece which saw a depleted field, without the Korean heavyweights.
Overall, recurve archers shared two golds and three silvers to propel India to first place in the final standings with 14 medals.
Mrinal Chauhan, who won qualification in the individual men’s recurve section, lost to Wang Baobin 2-6 (29-30, 29-29, 27-28, 26-26). Two points separated the 19-year-old Indian from Baobin who took a decisive lead after winning the first and third sets by slim margins.
Sangeeta was a big disappointment as the fourth-seeded Indian squandered a 3-1 cushion and fired a wayward six in the fourth set to fall to lower-ranked Chinese rival Wu Jiaxin 3-7 ( 27-26, 27-27, 26-27, 24-27, 26-30).
The classic women’s team of Sangeeta, Madhu Vedwan and Tanisha Verma also disappointed after losing to their Chinese counterparts 0-6 (52-56, 47-52, 51-52) in a lopsided final.
The recurve archers finally won two gold medals when the men’s team and the mixed pairs won their respective finals against the Chinese.
Mrinal Chauhan, Tushar Shelke and Jayanta Talukdar edged China 5-1 (57-54, 54-54, 54-51) in the men’s team final.
The mixed duo of Chauhan and Sangeeta overcame a Chinese scare before winning 5-4 (36-37, 39-39, 37-36, 37-37, 20-18).
Compound dominance
Compound archers led the way in the morning session when the women’s team of Parneet Kaur, Raginee Markoo and Pragati beat Kazakhstan 232-223 to open India’s gold rush.
Abishek Verma, Kushal Dalal and Amit followed suit winning the men’s team event against Hong Kong 233-226.
The mixed team of Verma and Parneet Kaur then edged Kazakhstan 157-145 for a third gold medal.
Raginee beat teammate Pragati 144-144 (10*-10) by the slimmest of margins in the shoot-off in an all-India affair in the women’s individual compound section.
Parneet won the individual bronze for a clean sweep in the women’s compound section. Parneet beat Adel Zhexenbinova of Kazakhstan 143-141 by two points in the bronze medal playoff.
The compound men’s individual final was also an all-Indian affair where multiple World Cup gold medalist Verma was challenged to guard by youngster Amit.
But Verma used all his experience to edge Amit 143-143 (10*-10) after striking closer to the center in a thrilling shootout.
Dalal then completed a clean sweep for the men’s compound archers when he edged veteran Sergey Khristich of Kazakhstan 142-141 to win the individual bronze medal.
(With PTI inputs)
The compound archers put up stunning performances to wipe out the men’s and women’s competition by winning five gold, two silver and two bronze medals.
In the hunt for 10 gold medals, India missed out on total dominance with the recurve archers losing three finals, all to their Chinese rivals. But that didn’t stop them dominating the medal tally in the continental showpiece which saw a depleted field, without the Korean heavyweights.
Overall, recurve archers shared two golds and three silvers to propel India to first place in the final standings with 14 medals.
Mrinal Chauhan, who won qualification in the individual men’s recurve section, lost to Wang Baobin 2-6 (29-30, 29-29, 27-28, 26-26). Two points separated the 19-year-old Indian from Baobin who took a decisive lead after winning the first and third sets by slim margins.
Sangeeta was a big disappointment as the fourth-seeded Indian squandered a 3-1 cushion and fired a wayward six in the fourth set to fall to lower-ranked Chinese rival Wu Jiaxin 3-7 ( 27-26, 27-27, 26-27, 24-27, 26-30).
The classic women’s team of Sangeeta, Madhu Vedwan and Tanisha Verma also disappointed after losing to their Chinese counterparts 0-6 (52-56, 47-52, 51-52) in a lopsided final.
The recurve archers finally won two gold medals when the men’s team and the mixed pairs won their respective finals against the Chinese.
Mrinal Chauhan, Tushar Shelke and Jayanta Talukdar edged China 5-1 (57-54, 54-54, 54-51) in the men’s team final.
The mixed duo of Chauhan and Sangeeta overcame a Chinese scare before winning 5-4 (36-37, 39-39, 37-36, 37-37, 20-18).
Compound dominance
Compound archers led the way in the morning session when the women’s team of Parneet Kaur, Raginee Markoo and Pragati beat Kazakhstan 232-223 to open India’s gold rush.
Abishek Verma, Kushal Dalal and Amit followed suit winning the men’s team event against Hong Kong 233-226.
The mixed team of Verma and Parneet Kaur then edged Kazakhstan 157-145 for a third gold medal.
Raginee beat teammate Pragati 144-144 (10*-10) by the slimmest of margins in the shoot-off in an all-India affair in the women’s individual compound section.
Parneet won the individual bronze for a clean sweep in the women’s compound section. Parneet beat Adel Zhexenbinova of Kazakhstan 143-141 by two points in the bronze medal playoff.
The compound men’s individual final was also an all-Indian affair where multiple World Cup gold medalist Verma was challenged to guard by youngster Amit.
But Verma used all his experience to edge Amit 143-143 (10*-10) after striking closer to the center in a thrilling shootout.
Dalal then completed a clean sweep for the men’s compound archers when he edged veteran Sergey Khristich of Kazakhstan 142-141 to win the individual bronze medal.
(With PTI inputs)
