Indian men archers strike gold in World Cup stage 1

Shanghai May 20 (IANS) The Indian men s compound team on Saturday defeated Colombia to clinch the gold medal on the penultimate day of the archery World Cup stage 1 championship here.

The team of Abhishek Verma Chinna Raju Srither and Amanjeet Singh won the medal defeating Colombia 226-221 in a closely-fought summit showdown.

Earlier the Indian compound men s archery team advanced to the final after getting the better of Americans Reo Wilde Steve Anderson and Braden Gellenthien 232-230 in a last-four clash.

The Colombian team comprised Camilo Andres Cardona Jose Carlos Ospina and Daniel Munoz.

In the final the Indians grabbed a slender lead in the opening set by clinching it 58-57 and built on it in the next three to emerge triumphant. The Colombians managed to tie the third set 52-52.

In the mixed pair event Abhishek Verma with Jyothi Surekha Vennam had earlier made it to the bronze medal play-off.

Verma and Jyothi will take on the US. The duo lost to second-seeded South Korean in the semi-finals.

Meanwhile Indian recurve archers including Olympians Atanu Das and Deepika Kumari were knocked out of their respective events.

While the men s recurve team slumped to a 0-3 defeat to Japan in the quarter-finals the women s recurve team made a first-round exit after suffering a 2-6 defeat at the hands of US.

--IANS
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