Archery World Cup : Indian recurve women shock Germany to set up gold medal clash
The Indian women's recurve team shocked top seeds Germany 5-3 to reach the final in the first stage of the Archery World Cup at Shanghai on Friday. The men's and mixed recurve teams as well remain on course for medals, but the compound archers disappointed to crash out of the fray.
The women's team comprising of Deepika Kumari, Bombayla Devi, and Laxmirani Majhi had a cracking start to the event as they shot three 9s and three Xs in the first set to take it 2-0. After holding the lead at 3-1 after the second round, they had a minor setback shooting two 8s in the third allowing the German team of Lisa Unruh, Elena Richter, and Karina Winter to level at 3-3. But the women held on to complete the upset in the decider with a difference of a single point to win the match 5-3. They will now face Chinese Taipei in the final for the gold medal.
The win should serve as a big boost after the trio had suffered disappointing losses earlier in the individual events.
The women have had a roller-coaster ride to the final – they whitewashed the US team
In the men's event, the trio of Atanu Das, Jayanta Talukdar, and Mangal Singh Champia will fight for the bronze after losing to Netherlands in the semi-final. The men had taken it to the shoot-off but lost it 28-30 to eventually settle for a 4–5 loss.
In the men's compound event, the team lost in the first round to lower-ranked Iran. The women's compound team fared slightly better going past the first round against Malaysia 224-223 with a single point, but they lost 220-229 to Germany in the next.