Out to end medal drought, recurve archers miss out on Worlds bronze

Gwangju: Indian recurve archers once again flattered to deceive at the World Championships as the women’s team lost to South Korea in the bronze medal playoffs, while the mixed pair and men’s individual hopes also crashed out on Wednesday.

Desperate to end a decade long medal drought at the Worlds, the women’s trio of Deepika Kumari, Gatha Khadake and Ankita Bhakat failed to seize the big moments against its familiar nemesis, going down 3-5 against South Korea.

It’s not that the Koreans on home turf dominated outright. In fact, they looked vulnerable with erratic shots and never once managed a perfect set.

But the Indians failed to land the knockout punch, squandering a golden chance to turn a 3-3 deadlock into a bronze. The pattern was all too familiar with flashes of brilliance with four 10s in a set, only to be undone by loose shots and nerves when the medal was within reach.

After conceding the opening set 51-54, the Indians produced four 10s to tie the second 57-57, enough to create a panic among the Korean women’s team which has won the Olympic gold 10 times in a row.

Riding on their late surge, the Indians edged the third 57-54 to draw level at 3-3, raising hopes of a breakthrough.

But the Koreans, led by triple Olympic gold medallist An San (Tokyo) and reigning Paris champion Lim Si-hyeon, regained control in the fourth, sealing a 56-54 win and extending their domination.

Mixed team woes

There was more heartbreak in the mixed event where Deepika and Neeraj Chauhan went down 4-5 (18-19) in a shoot-off to Japan’s Nanami Asakuno and Yuki Kawata in the second round of 16.

After losing the first set 36-37, they rallied with two tied sets (36-36, 37-37) and even edged ahead 38-37 in the fourth with three 10s, only to collapse in the decider by failing to produce a single 10 when it mattered the most.

India have so far bagged two medals.