Rahul, Tarundeep dropped from Indian archery squad

Kolkata, July 12, 2011: The Archery Association of India (AAI) dropped Rahul Banerjee of Railways and Tarundeep Rai of Services from the squad named for the World Cup III and IV due to below par performance in the 46th world archery championship which concluded in Turin Sunday.

In a press release, the secretary general of the AAI, P.N. Mukherjee, said the two would, however, get a chance to appear in the trials for the 17th Asian archery championship in September.

He also said the women’s recurve team, consisting of Deepika Kumari. L. Bombayla Devi and Chekrovolu Swuro, and Jayanta Talukdar who earned India Olympic quota places, would participate in all international tournament from now onward.

The AAI also released the teams for the World Cup Stage II (Ogden, August 1-6) and Stage IV (Shanghai, September 5-10). Two youngsters, Atanu Das and Prativa Bora, have been included in the squads.

The Indian squad returned from Turin this morning and was given a warm welcome at the SAI, Eastern Centre. Later State sports minister, Madan Mitra, also met the team members and congratulated them for getting India four Olympic quota places.


The contingent:

Recurve men: Jayanta Talukdar (SPSB), Thupuvoyi Swuro (Nagaland), Atanu Das (SPSB) and Vishwas (Services). Women: Deepika Kumari (SPSB), L. Bombayla Devi (Railways), Chekrovolu Swuro (Nagaland) and Prativa Boro (Assam).

Compound men: C. Srither, Ch. Jignas (both Services), Ritul Chatterjee (AP) and Kh. Ratan Singh (Services). Women: Jhano Hansdah (Jharkhand), Gagandeep Kaur (Punjab), Manjudha Soy and Namita Yadav (both Jharkhand).

Arcgery Association of India Press release

Indian recurve women team loses in final, settles for silver

Kolkata, July 10, 2011: The Indian recurve women’s team lost to Italy 207-210 in the final of the world championship at Turin on Sunday. The team, consisting of Deepika Kumari, Chekrovolu Swuro and Laishram Bombayla Devi, had one point lead at half way stage from where the former world champion took charge and won, according to an Archery Association of India Press release.

Maiden entry into the final did weigh heavily on the minds of the Indians. The presence of Deepika Kumari, the reigning world cadet individual champion won in 2009, did not inspire the Indians as the three shot a very poor third end for a score of 50 points out of 60. The Italians turned the table on their rivals with a fine round of 55 that not only neutralized India’s one point lead but gave the team a whooping four-point lead that stood the team well.

The Indians had the best round of 54 in the final end yet the team fell short by three points as the Italians celebrated the world title.

The Indians shooting order was Deepika, Chekrovolu and Bombayla.

Italy won silver at Beijing 2001 and won the world title in 1999 in Riom, France. They had met the Indians seven times before with a small advantage of 4-3 on the head to head clash. The last two encounters were in favour of the Italians, with wins at the Porec 2010 and Shanghai 2009 World Cup. The only positive the Indians carried into the final was their dramatic semifinal victory that dethroned World champion and favourites, Korea.

According to reports received from Turin, the two teams appeared quite nervous on the field. The shots by the six competitors were not as fluent as usual. After the first end, the scores for each team were quite low, 51-50 for the Indians.

The first 10 by Italy was scored at their tenth shot! But with two arrows out of the yellow in the second end, they still trailed by one at the half-way mark (102-103).

After two opening 8s by Guendalina Sartori and Jessica Tomasi to start the third end, the former world champion Natalia Valeeva showed the way to her teammates with a 10. The Italians were back on track with 10-9-10 after that. As their opponents Deepika Kumari/ Chekrovolu Swuro/Bombayla Devi only had a 50-point series at that time, the local team reversed the score to lead by four (157-153).

Tension was at it height in the last end! Before the last three arrows, the Indian team came back to three points and even two points after the Italian Sartori scored an 8. The last but one arrow was a 9 for each team and the gap remained. As the Bombayla finished with another 9 for her team, Valeeva needed an 8 to win. The experienced Italian thudded a 10 to give gold to Italy (210-207)!

Jayanta Talukdar earns India one Olympic quota place

Kolkata, July 8, 2011: India ’s Jayanta Talukdar earned India an Olympic quota place from the men’s individual recurve event of the world archery championship in Turin, according to a Press release of Archery Association of India.

The Indian, who was seeded fifth in the elimination round of the event began his campaign from the third round match against 28th ranked Antti Tekoniemi of Finland and won by six points to four. This victory earned him a quota place.

Talukdar was one of the eight individuals to win a quota place in the men’s section. Earlier, the Indian women’s team also gave India three quota places thus a total of four berths are with India .

Talukdar failed to sustain the motivational level high in search of the coveted title and lost to 44th ranked Jeff Henckels of Luxembourg 5-6. After sharing five sets, the match went into one-arrow tie-break shot in which Talukdar hit a 9 and his rival got a 10.

Earlier, Tarundeep Rai, who was also in the third round, went down to Athens Olympic gold medallist Marco Galiazzo of Italy but not before giving a tough fight. Rai, who was ranked a lowly 62nd as against 19th ranked Italian, lost the first set at 25-27, tied the next 27-27 before winning the third set 29-28. The Indian went into lead by winning the fourth set 29-28. Rank bad shooting in the final set meant Galiazzo won it at 27-22 to tie the points at 5-5. The tie went into tie-break where both shot 10 points each. But the Italian was declared the winner because his arrow was closer to the centre.

The third Indian Rahul Banerjee, ranked 72nd, lost to 41st ranked Japanese Hideki Kikuchi 6-4.

In the women’s section, both Deepika Kumari and Laishram Bombayla Devi failed to go past the third round. The ninth ranked Deepika lost to 41st ranked Natalia Lesniak of Poland 5-6. The 15th ranked Bombayla went down to 18th ranked Miranda Leek of the U.S. 3-7.

Indian women’s team qualifies for London Olympics

Kolkata, July 6, 2011: History was created at Turin, the venue of the ongoing world archery championship, where the Indian women’s recurve team of Laishram Bombayla Devi, Deepika Kumari and Chekrovolu Swuro, not only booked the three Olympic quota places but outscored defending champion Korea in the semifinals by 216 points to 212 to make its maiden entry into the final, according to a Press release of the Archery Association of India.

Never before an Indian women’s team ever entered the final of a world championship. The best so far was fourth place finish by an Indian women’s team at the 2005 Madrid Worlds when the Indian men’s team moved into the final and settled for silver.

It could have been a wonderful day for Indian archery but for the first round loss suffered by the Indian men’s recurve team, comprising Rahul Banerjee, Tarundeep Rai and Jayanta Talukdar, at the hands of China in the first round. India lost by a point, the score being 216-215 in favour of the winner.

Despite the loss, India had another chance to qualify when the Olympic Games host Great Britain also moved within top eight. Since the host gets three berths in the London Games, two best first round losing teams got another chance to play-off. There too India came a cropper.

Overwhelmed by the Indian ladies’ show, Prof. Vijay Kumar Malhotra, President, Archery Association of India proudly conveyed his heartiest congratulations to Indian women’s team of Deepika Kumari, Laishram Bombayla Devi and Chekrovolu Swuro for confirming three quota places for 2012 Olympics in London and for entering the final of the World Championship for the first time in the history of Indian archery.

“It was really a wonderful performance by the Indian contingent and the recurve Women’s team deserves special appreciation because of its commendable victory over World Champion Korea in the semi-finals. I am personally very happy to hear the good news in a day and wish them all the very best for bringing more glory and laurels for the country in the World Championship,” Prof. Malhotra said.

Indian women trailed France by two points in the first end of six arrows (51-53) in the first round clash. Two teams tied 54-54 in the second end while France took a commanding lead at the end of third end (56-54) for a total of 163-159. in the final end of six arrows, the Indian team exploded to gather a whooping 57 points as against France’s 50 to end the match at 216-213.

It was a stroll in the park for the Indians in the quarterfinals against Denmark winning the contest at 203-197 to come face to face with world champion Korea. Undaunted by the towering presence of Koreans, the Indians shot the arrows like champions to lead the first end with a score of 55-53. Korea won the second end at 54-53. Thereafter further success eluded the Koreans as India won the second end 52-51 and the final end 56-54 for a total of 216-212.

India will play Italy in the final on July 10. Italy outplayed China 221-213 in the semifinals. Korea and China will play for the bronze medal.

In the men’s team final, Korea will take on France while Mexico and Italy will fight it out for the bronze medal.

In the mixed doubles, the Indian pair of Jayanta Talukdar and Deepika Kumari lost to Poland in the quarterfinals after winning against Ukraine in the first round.

World champion Korea, China, Italy and Ukraine assured themselves of full six quota places, three in men and as many in women’s section. Italy, France, the USA and Mexico made it to London from the men’s section while India, Denmark, Chinese Taipei and Russia qualified from the women’s segment.

Indian men finish 10th, to play China in first round

Kolkata, July 5, 2011: India on Tuesday drew one of the top Asian countries China as its first round rival in the team knockout event of the world archery championship at Turin (Italy), according to a Press release of Indian Archery Association.

At the end of the FITA round qualification, the three Indians, Jayanta Talukdar, Tarundeep Rai and Rahul Banerjee, returned an ordinary total of 3939 points which gave them only the 10th place.

India’s first round opponent, China finished seventh with 3982 points.

In the individual qualification, Jayanta Talukdar earned a creditable fifth place finish with a total of 1354. Tarundeep Rai and Rahul Banerjee were rather disappointing ending 62nd (1296) and 72nd (1289) places respectively.

The highlight of Indians show was Talukdar’s score of 343 out of 360 points in the 70m distance which gave him an overall first position.

Indian women archers finish 4th in qualification

Kolkata, July 4: The famous threesome of Indian women’s recurve team, consisting of Laishram Bombayla Devi, Deepika Kumari and Chekrovolu Swuro, gave India a flying start to the world championship by qualifying a creditable fourth with a total of 4005 points at Turin (Italy), according to Archery Association of India Press release.

Deepika, 17, was the best among the three Indians. She finished the four-distance qualifying round with a total of 1343. This enabled her finish ninth in individual ranking. Bombayla was 15th with 1336 and Chekrovolu was 26th with 1326, according to information received here.

Ki Bo Bae of Korea topped the ranking with 1389 followed by her country mate Jung Dosami with 1361.

The higher an archer is placed in the qualifying round, the better her chances of meeting a less calibre opponent in the first round. The same rule applies in the team championship as well.

Defending champion Korea topped the team qualifying round with a total of 4088 points. China was second with 4027 and Italy was third with 4012.

In the race for Olympic quota places, the Indian women will play 13th placed France in the first round of the team elimination. France finished the qualifying round with a total of 3932. A first round win will give India three places for the London Olympics.

Indian archers settle for silver in mixed team event

Patna, June 12, 2011: The Indian team, consisting of Jayanta Talukdar and Deepika Kumari, was beaten to the silver place by the Chinese duo of Dai Xiaoxiang and Fang Yuting 133-136 points in the final of the recurve mixed team event of the World Cup (Stage II) archery competition at Antalya on Sunday.

According to information received here, the Indian pair trailed from the start collecting only 29 points off four arrows. The Chinese picked up 30 to establish lead. The Indians got 33 to their rivals’ 34 in the second end for a total score of 62-64. In the third end too the Indians fell behind (35-36) for a total 97-100. The three-point lead was enough for the Chinese to clinch gold as in the final end of four arrows both teams scored 36 points for a total of 136-133.

Archery Association of India Press release

Indian women recurve team moves into bronze medal play-off

Patna, June 11, 2011: Indian women’s recurve team moved into the bronze medal play-off against Ukraine after losing to the US in the semifinals that too in a tie-breaker of the World Cup (Stage II) archery competition at Antalya on Friday. The men’s team, however, lost to Japan in the first round also in the tie-breaker, according to information received here.

Predictably, the Indians’ campaign in the individual competition too came to an end with the remaining three, Thupuvoyi Swuro, Laishram Bombayla Devi and Deepika Kumari losing in the round of 32 on Thursday.

The only good news is that the Indian mixed team pair of Jayanta Talukdar and Deepika Kumari moved into the final against China to be played on the final day on Sunday.

The Indian men’s team, consisting of Rahul Banerjee, Tarundeep Rai and Jayanta Talukdar, ranked World No. 1 and ninth in this competition, showed woeful form to tie the score 212-212 against Japan. In the three-arrow tie-breaker, India shot 27 points as against Japan’s 29. Japan went on to beat Korea in the semifinals and moved into the final against France.

The women’s team, comprising Bombayla Devi, Deepika and Chekrovolu Swuro, beat Turkey in the first round 208-207; defeated Russia 209-208 and tied 212-212 with the US. In the tie-breaker, India scored 24 and US collected 28 to move into the final against Korea.

Expectedly, Thupuvoyi went down to ultimate finalist and fourth seed Brady Ellison of the US 6-2 in the round of 32 in the men’s section.

India had very high hopes on Deepika who was ranked fourth behind the three Koreans in the qualification round. Yet, the Indian failed to go past her first opponent in this meet, 29th ranked Lisa Unruh of Germany, losing the contest at 4-6. Bombayla, ranked 11th, should have had no problem in defeating 43rd ranked Bishindee Urantungalag of Mongolia but the latter simply outplayed the Indian 7-1.

The Indian mixed team pair first defeated Germany 146-145 and Italy 149-147 in the quarterfinals. The Korean pair was no match for the Indians as the latter won 151-149.

Indian Archery Association Press release

Jayanta Talukdar loses to little-known Iranian

Patna, June 9, 2011: A little known Iranian Majid Mirrahimi shocked India’s Jayanta Talukdar 6-5 in the first round of the World Cup (Stage II) archery competition individual elimination round at Antalya on Wednesday.

According to information received here, the 15th ranked Indian squandered 4-0 lead to lose in the tie-break after the two tied at five points each. In a one-arrow tie-break, the Iranian hit a 10 and the Indian shot a nine, according to information received here.

Talukdar was in comfortable lead taking the first two sets 29-24, 29-25 to race to 4-0 lead. The 15th ranked Indian, however, lost the next set at 27-28. The Iranian, ranked 98th, snatched the opening to draw the next set at 27-27 to reduce the lead to 3-5. In the final set, Talukdar made grave errors to lose it at 23-29 and allowed the contest drift into tie-breaker.

India’s two other archers, Rahul Banerjee and Tarundeep Rai, also fell early. This left Deepika Kumari and Laisharam Bombayla Devi in the women’s section and Thupuvoyi Swuro in the men’s section to keep the Indian challenge going in the individual competition.

Banerjee, ranked 31st, beat 82nd ranked Goktug Ergin of Turkey in the first round at 6-5, but fell to 79th placed Alexey Belov of Russia 3-7 in the next round. Rai, 54th ranked after the qualification round, won his opening round against 59th ranked Piotr Nowak of Poland 6-0 before bowing out to reigning Olympic champion Viktor Ruban of Ukraine, ranked 11th, 2-6.

Thupuvoyi will be up against a tough opponent in fourth seed Brady Ellison of the U.S. in the third round. The Naga archer won against 84th placed Lars Eggestig of Sweden 7-1 and 36th ranked Yagiz Yilmaz of Turkey 6-0.

Sixth seed Deepikia earned a bye into the round of 32. She will play 29th ranked Lisa Unruh of Germany. Bombayla won through two rounds to play 43rd ranked Bishindee Urangungalag of Mongolia for a place in the pre-quarterfinals. The Railway archer won against 102nd ranked Arezoo Heydari of Iran 7-1 and 54th ranked Iranian Fateme Farashi 6-0.

Ranked 30th, Chekrovolu defeated Kazakh Anastassiya Bannevo 7-1 but fell to 35th ranked Veronika Haidn Tschalova of Germany 2-6. Fifth second in ranking, Seema Verma was beaten by 61st ranked Simona Bancila of Romania 2-6.

Indian Archery Association Press release

Deepika helps India finish second

Patna, June 8, 2011: Deepika Kumari came up with an outstanding performance among Indians on the opening day of the World Cup (Stage II) archery competition at Antalya (Turkey) on Tuesday.

According to information received here, the petite archer from Ranchi finished fourth overall (1354 points) behind the three Koreans. She also helped India finish second (4005 points) behind Korea in the team ranking.

Otherwise, the Indians had a bad day with the men’s recurve team finishing ninth and individuallyJayanta Talukdar (1335, 15th), Thupuvoyi Swuro (1316, 29th), Rahul Banerjee (1312, 31st) and Tarundeep Rai (1296, 54th). India was ranked ninth (3963 points) in the men’s section and will take on eighth ranked Japan in the first round of the team championship. Korea finished at No. 1 in ranking with 4091. Mexico was a surprising second with 4051 and France was third with 4013.

In the women’s section, L. Bombayla Devi (1334, 11th), Chekrovolu Swuro (1317, 30th) and Seema Verma (1292, 52nd) finished in that order. In the team event, India will play 15th ranked Turkey in the first round.

World record holder Kim Woojin of Korea (1381, 1st), Oh Jin Hyek of Korea (1362, 2nd, Dai Xiaoxiang of China (1361, 3rd) took the top three places in the men’s section. Ki Bo Be (1372, 1st), Jung Dasomi (1360, 2nd), Han Gyeonghee (1356, 3rd), all from Korea, occupied the top three spots.

In the team standing, Korea headed the field with 4088, India was second and China was third with 3999.

In the mixed team event, the Indian pair of Deepika and Talukdar garnered 2689 points to rank fourth in a field of 16 teams.

Indian Archery Association Press release

Indian men recurve team settles for a silver medal

Kolkata, May 8, 2011: Indian men lost to the U.S. in the final of the recurve team event, 219-221, on Saturday to end the World Cup (Stage I) archery tournament with just one silver medal to its credit, according to a Press release of Indian Archery Association.

The Indian team, comprising Rahul Banerjee, Tarundeep Rai and Jayanta Talukdar, tied the first end of six arrows at 56-56 and took a three-point lead in the second end of six arrows at 58-55 (114-111). The American team of Kaminsk, Fanchin and Ellison, took advantage of two 8s by the Indians to finish the third end of six arrows at 56-54 (168-167, India’s favour). The Indians thereafter seemed to have lapsed in concentration in the final end of six arrows as they shot three 8s which enabled the Americans to pull away to 54-51 in that end for a final score of 221-219 in their favour.

This was India’s second successive silver medal in this tournament. Last year the Indian team, consisting of Mangal Singh, Rai and Talukdar, lost to Italy in the final.

The Indian women’s team finished fourth while the compound men’s and women’s sides were eliminated in the early rounds. Same was the case in the individual events where only recurve archer Seema Verma managed to enter the quarterfinals before bowing out to a superior Korean archer.

Brady Ellison also won the men’s individual gold and mixed team silver medal for his country in recurve bow section.

Indian men recurve team enters final

Kolkata, May 7, 2011: Indian men’s recurve team, putting behind all the disappointments of the past three days, made a telling impact on the ongoing World Cup (Stage I) archery tournament at Porec (Croatia), by making a triumphant entry into the final on Friday, according to Press release of the Indian Archery Association.

Ranked fifth, India, well served by Rahul Banerjee, Jayanta Talukdar and Tarundeep Rai, produced one of the biggest upsets of the event by beating Korea by 219-217 points in the semifinals. India will take on the U.S. in the gold medal match.

The women’s side, consisting of Deepika Kumari, Laishram Bombayla Devi and Seema Verma, lost out in the bronze medal play-off to Germany by 202-209 points to finish fourth in a tough field.

The old story returned to haunt the compound archers as the men were eliminated in the first round by Iran, ultimate bronze medal winner, by 227-233. The women did a shade better winning the opening round against Mexico (220-210) but coming a cropper in the quarterfinals against the third-ranked France by 218-220.

The Indian men’s team, entering this tournament as World No. 1, could only finish fifth in the ranking round. Yet, the Indian trio rose to the occasion to take out first 12th ranked Canada (216-197) and then fourth ranked Italy (224-217), thus exacting a sweet revenge to the loss it suffered in last year’s final. This victory brought India face to face with Korea. The Indians held the nerve to shoot down the Koreans (219-217) to march into the final.

The U.S. troika, Brady Ellison, Joe Fanchin and Jake Kaminsky, has done well till the final and will be waiting for the Indians in the 24-arrow finale. Korea clinched the bronze medal defeating Ukraine (223-209).

Indian women too began very promisingly out shooting 15th ranked Colombia (209-201) and ousting 10th ranked Denmark (216-210) in the quarterfinals. Russia, ranked third, proved too strong to second-ranked India in the semifinals (200-191) sending the latter to the bronze medal play-off. Russia will face Korea in the final.

The U.S. will play Denmark in the compound men’s final and it will be be a France-Sweden showdown in the ladies' final. Russia defeated Italy for the bronze medal.

Poor show by Indian archers

Kolkata, May 6, 2011: Indian compound bow archers failed to lift the sagging spirits of the 21-member contingent with a trite display in the elimination round on the third day of the World Cup (Stage I) at Porec (Croatia) on Thursday.

Only veterans Jhano Hansdah and Bheigyabati Chanu won matches on a day when everybody else lost in the first round of action. Former National Champion Jhano eased into the pre-quarterfinals where she was beaten by 4th seed Erika Anschutz of the U.S., 140-144 points. Bheigyabati won her first round against Erika Anear of Australia but fell to 10th seed Marcella Tonioli of Italy, 134-139, in the next round.

National champion Namita Yadav, ranked 19, failed to go past 46th-ranked Anne Lantee of Finland, 128-136 in the second round after gaining a bye in the first round. Gagandeep Kaur, occupying the 26th position after the ranking round, got a first round bye but was stopped by 39th placed Viktoria Balzhanova of Russia, 132-136.

The men compound archers were worse. Reigning Asian champion and former National champion fromAndhra Pradesh, Isaiah Rajender Sanam, ranked No. 60, failed to do justice to his talent by losing to 53rd-ranked Swiss Gregoire Fumeaux by two points, 137-139. Commonwealth Games team gold medallists, C. Srither, Ch. Jignas and Ritul Chatterjee, all stumbled ignominiously in the first round. Srither lost to much lower ranked Croat Vladimir Bartol 141-143; Jignas fell to Italian Pieto Greco, 138-139 and Chatterjee, ranked a poor 71, was upstaged by 42nd placed Belgian Sam Kyritsoglou, 138-142.

Even in the newly introduced mixed team events, the Indians failed to make a mark. Having qualified as No. 4 seed, recurve archers Rahul Banerjee and Deepika Kumari were defeated by 13th-ranked Polish team, Piotr Piatek and Justyna Mospinek, by 137-140 points in the first round of the 16-team knockout competition.

Srither and Namita too went out in the opening round losing to Iranian pair of Amir Kazenpoor and Parsamehr Mahtab, 143-145, to complete the Indians’ cup of woe.

Dismal show by Indian recurve archers

Kolkata, May 5, 2011: Indian recurve archers fell like nine pins in the individual elimination round of the men’s and women’s section of the World Cup (Stage I) at Porec, Croatia, on Wednesday. The only exception was rookie Seema Verma who lost to second-seeded Korean Ki Bo Bae 0-6 in the quarterfinals.

According to a press release of Indian Archery Association, among the men, only Tarundeep Rai managed to enter the pre-quarterfinals where he also lost to top seed Korean Oh Jin Hyek 3-7.

The worst was National men’s champion Viswash who bowed out in the first round to Dutch opponent Tim Freriks, ranked way below him in this championship, 0-6.

National women’s champion Deepika Kumari, ranked fifth and seeded in the third round, had the ignominy of losing to a rival ranked 32 ranks below her. Katrina Lipiarska of Poland won 6-4.

CWG gold medallist Rahul Banerjee, ranked ninth, was a second round victim going down to 57th ranked Hugh Mac Donald of Canada 2-6. Gold medallist at Porec in 2006 and 2009, Jayanta Talukdar, seeded 19th, produced a real shocker falling to 99th ranked unknown Bulgarian Vencislav Velikov 4-6.

Two other Indian ladies, 11th ranked L. Bombayla Devi fell to 22nd ranked Maja Buskbjerg Jager of Denmark 3-7 in the third round and Rimil Buruily, qualifying at the 51st place, lost to 62nd ranked Alison Williamson of Great Britain, silver medalists at the Delhi CWG, 2-6.

In the compound qualifications, archers shot the new 50-metre round where the American archers set three new world records. Men’s individual Reo Wilde broke his own world record of 708 set on 24 April 2011 with 711 points. The compound men's team established a new world record with 2116 points, improving on its own mark of 2112 set on 8 April 2011 in Phoenix, USA. With a total of 2083 points the compound women's team eclipsed the world record set by Italy at theEuropean Grand Prix in Antalya back in April (2044).

Chinna Raju Srither and National Champion Namita Yadav were the best Indian compound archers on view. Srither occupied 36th place with a total of 692 points. Namita was 19th with 675. Chittibomma Jignas (687), Isaiah Rajender Sanam (685) and Ritul Chatterjee (679) took the 57th, 60th and 71st spots respectively. The Indian team was ranked 12th with a total of 2064.

Jhano Hansdah was the second best Indian woman placed at 20th with 675. Gagandeep Kaur was 26th with 673 and Bheighyabati Chanu was 55th with 646. The first three ensured India ended sixth with a total of 2023.

The Indian mixed team pair of Srither and Namita was placed 12th with 1367.

Indian archers have a modest day in World Cup State 1

Kolkata, May 4: Indian archers had a modest day on the opening day of the World Cup Stage I at the Croatian city of Porec on Tuesday.

According to a Press release of the Indian Archery Association, amidst dominating display by Korean archers, the eight-member Indian recurve team tried its best to consolidate the position in one of the strongest fields in recent times. Only CWG gold medallist Deepika Kumari could finish among the top eight in either section. CWG men’s gold medallist Rahul Banerjee was the best Indian men on view finishing ninth.

Korea’s Oh Jin Hyek (1359) and Im Dong-Hyun (1352) were the top two and world record holder in the FITA round also from, Korea Kim Woojin, finished fifth (1345). Banerjee (1334) wan ninth,Tarundeep Rai (1325) was 16th, Jayanta Talukdar (1321) was 19th and Viswash (1301) was 29th.

The Indian team comprising Banerjee, Rai and Talukdar ended fifth (3980) behind Korea, France, the USA and Italy.

Korean unleashed a newcomer in Jung Dasomi who cornered all the limelight by standing first in three distances and in overall total as well in the ladies’ section. She totalled 1374 points. Korea also cornered the second and third places. Deepika Kumari (1328) was fifth, Seema Verma, who represented India in the youth Olympics in Singapore, was 10th (1319). Olympian Laishram Bombayla Devi (1314) was 11th and Rimil Buruily (1278) shot much below her standards to end 51st.

The Indian team consisting of Deepika, Seema and Bombayla was second behind Korea with 3961 points.

In the mixed team event, the Indian pair of Banerjee and Deepika Kumari totalled 2662 to be on fourth behind Korea, Great Britain and Italy.