Madrid, Jul 8 (PTI) India’s struggling compound archers returned to the medal-winning track under new coach Dave Cousins as the women’s team stormed into the final, while the men’s side narrowly missed out on a bronze medal at the Archery World Cup Stage 4 here on Wednesday.
In the individual events, all Indian compound archers except Parneet Kaur in the women’s section remained in medal contention after advancing to the round of 32, thereby making it seven Indians in the fray.
Stage 4 in Madrid here marked the start of American great Cousins’ tenure as India’s compound coach, and the team’s return to the podium has provided an immediate boost.
After enduring a lean phase this season, the Indian compound archers under the American chief compound coach impressed in the qualification round with the men’s team securing the top seed and the women’s team entering the knockouts as the seventh seed.
But it was the women’s trio of Jyothi Surekha Vennam, Chikitha Taniparthi and Prithika Pradeep who went all the way till the summit clash.
They ousted third-seeded South Korea 231-228 in the semifinals to set up a gold medal clash against top-seeded Colombia on Saturday.
Thus, the Indian women’s team will be chasing their second World Cup gold medal of the season, having won the season-opening stage in Puebla.
That, along with Sahil Jadhav’s individual bronze, was India’s only medal haul in the compound section across the first three World Cup stages as the team endured a prolonged slump in the build-up to the Asian Games.
In the women’s team semifinal, the Indian trio made a strong start, dropping just two points in the opening end against Korea’s Park Yerin, Park Jungyoon and Kang Yeonseo to take a two-point lead after six arrows.
They extended the advantage to three points in the second end after conceding just one point and maintained control thereafter.
Although the Koreans edged the final end 58-57, it was not enough to prevent India from sealing the match and assuring themselves of a medal.
The compound men’s team of Sahil Jadhav, Ganesh Mani Ratnam Thirumuru and Kushal Dalal, on the other hand, fell short in the bronze-medal playoff, losing 232-233 to Germany.
The contest was evenly poised at 174-all after three ends, but the German trio of Simon Moritz, Paolo Kunsch and Noah Nuber produced a near-flawless final end, dropping just one point to clinch the bronze.
Earlier, the top-seeded Indian men’s team suffered a heartbreaking semifinal loss to Mexico in a shoot-off.
The teams were locked at 237-237 after the regulation 24 arrows, with the shoot-off also ending level at 30-30.
Mexico progressed to the final after winning on the closest-to-the-centre tie-break rule. PTI TAP SSC SSC
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