KOLKATA: India’s women recurve archers stunned powerhouse South Korea 5-1 to make the team final of the Archery World Cup Stage-II in Shanghai on Thursday. This morale-boosting achievement comes just months before the Asian Games. The team comprising Olympians Deepika Kumari and Ankita Bhakat along with teenager Kumkum Mohod, ensured the first medal for India in this World Cup by easing past a new-look Korean side to set up a gold medal clash against second seed China on Sunday.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!However, their men’s counterparts of veteran Tarundeep Rai, Dhiraj Bommadevara and Yashdeep Bhoge put up a poor show to go down 2-6 to Bangladesh in pre-quarterfinals after getting a first-round bye.
The women faced an inexperienced Korean side, which skipped the first leg of the World Cup in Mexico where India ended empty-handed. The Korean team featured reigning world champion Kang Chaeyoung as the only experienced archer in the side with two debutants in Lee Yunji and Oh Yejin. However, they still qualified as the top-ranked team but were not up to the mark before falling 55-58, 56-56, 56-58 to India.Earlier, the women trio recovered from a slow start to beat Uzbekistan 6-2 (53-56, 57-54, 55-54, 55-51) in the opening round. The fourth-seeded India side faced a great challenge against Vietnam before overcoming them 5-4 (28-25) in a tense shoot-off.
