The Indian recurve pair of Atanu Das and Deepika Kumari lost by a margin of three points to five in their quarterfinal clash in the mixed team section at the World Cup group stage 1 in Shanghai on Wednesday.
Das and Kumari shot 677 and 659 in the ranking round respectively, to finish sixth and fifth in their individual sections, and qualifying second by virtue of their combined scores.
Faced with 15th-placed Colombia, the Indian duo blanked their opponents, registering a 6-0 activity in three sets, winning 36-35. 37-36 and 38-35, progressing to the quarterfinals.
Erdynieva and Kozhin, ranked 130th and 93rd in the world, had belied their rankings to finish 15th and 10th in the ranking round and were seeded seventh in the mixed team, defeating France 5-1 in the pre-quarters.
The Russians started well in the first set, taking it 38-37 and the second 39-37 before Das and Kumari clawed back in the third, winning it 37-34. They could not force a shoot-off as they tied the fourth 36-36.
The victors went on to lose to Chinese Taipei in the semifinals and will face US in the bronze medal match, while Taipei face the favourites South Korea for gold.
India’s wait for a first medal at this year’s World Cup goes to day two as Das and Kumari will rue a chance lost to win a medal at an event where they won bronze last year.