China,apr 25
The Indian men’s recurve archery team of Tarundeep Rai, Dhiraj Bommadevara and Pravin Jadhav secured a berth in the finals at the ongoing Archery World Cup in Shanghai on Thursday.They beat Italy 5-1 to set up a title clash with South Korea, which is scheduled for Sunday.The top-seeded South Korean team will feature Tokyo Olympic gold medalist trio Kim Woojin, Lee Woo Seok and Kim Je Deok.As per the Archery Association of India (AAI), the team has improved its world ranking which will help them secure a spot in the Paris 2024 Olympics taking place early this year.Indian women’s recurve trio of Deepika Kumari, Ankita Bhakat and Bhajan Kaur faced a 3-1 defeat to Mexico in its opening clash.India did well in compound archery as well, securing a final spot in the men’s and women’s team events.The women’s team of Jyoti Surekha Vennam, Aditi Gopichand Swami, Parneet Kaur, Parneet Kaur secured a spot in the finals with a win over Estonia by 235-230. On the other hand, the men’s team of Prathamesh Fuge, Abhishek Verma and Priyansh also moved to the finals, beating South Korea by 235-233.Archery World Cup’s first stage will be held from April 23 to 28 in Shangai while South Korea will be hosting the second leg from May 21 to 26.Based on the performances in the first two stages of the WC, the team for the third stage, taking place from June 18 to 23, in Antalya will be selected. The third stage of the World Cup will be the final qualification event for recurve archers ahead of the Olympics, taking place from July to August this year.
