The Indian women’s recurve team, on Thursday, lost out in the bronze medal match against Japan at the 2024 Archery World Cup Stage 3 in Antalya.
The Indian team comprising the experienced Deepika Kumari, Ankita Bhakat, and the 2024 Paris Olympics quota winner Bhajan Kaur lost out 0-6 in straight sets to hand Japan their first World Cup medal in the sport since 2018.
The Indian trio had lost to France 4-5 in the semi-finals to move into the bronze medal match. Earlier, the fifth seeded Indians had earned a bye in the first round before defeating Netherlands 6-2 in the second round.
They then avenged their final World Qualifying Tournament loss to Ukraine last week, with a 5-3 in the quarter-finals.
Meanwhile, the Indian men’s team of Dhiraj Bommadevara, Tarundeep Rai, and Praveen Jadhav lost out in the second round following a tame 1-5 loss to Netherlands. This was after they were handed a first round bye.
Priyansh enters semi-finals
Priyansh, meanwhile, is the only Indian left in contention in the compound individual events.
He beat fellow Indian Prathamesh Fuge 149-148 in the men’s compound individual pre-quarterfinals, before defeating Turkey’s Batuhan Akcaoglu 149-147 to enter the semi-final.
Priyansh will now face off against Denmark’s Mathias Fullerton for a spot in the final.
The experienced Abhishek Verma, meanwhile, crashed out in the pre-quarterfinals as well with a 146-148 loss to Akcaoglu.
The disappointment for India extended to the women’s compound individual events too as the trio of Jyothi Surekha Vennam, world champion Aditi Swami, and Parneet Kaur all bowed out.
While Vennam reached the pre-quarters, Kaur and Swami exited the competition a round earlier.
