CHENGDU, July 28: Compound archers led the show confirming themselves two medals, as India remained in line for seven podium finishes in the 31st Summer World University Games, here on Friday.
The trio of Purvasha Shende, Pragati and Avneet Kaur stunned hosts China’s Shujia Ma, Yuanyuan Wang, Jiayu Zhou 229-224 in a one-sided semifinal to storm into the compound women’s team final.
They will face Korea for the compound women’s team gold. Korea defeated Chinese Taipei 232-228 in the other semifinal. India are in contention for a medal in the compound men’s individual section as well.
In the semifinals, Aman Saini defeated Rishabh Yadav 147-146, whlie Sangam Bisla prevailed over Nathan Cadronet of France 148-142. Saini will take on Bisla in an all-Indian compound men’s individual final, which means one medal is confirmed while a bronze is also a possibility.
The compound men’s team of Saini, Bisla and Rishabh Yadav, however, lost to local favourites China (Meiyu Du, Yansong Chen and Shikun Wang) by a slender margin of 227-228. They will now fight for bronze against Korea. Avneet will be eyeing a final berth in the women’s compound individual section when she takes on Cho Sua of Korea in the semifinal. Even if he loses in the semis, Avneet will be in line for a bronze medal.
Avneet pipped compatriot Pragati 145-144 in the compound individual quarterfinal. In the recurve section, India remained in the hunt for two bronze medals. The men’s team of Akhil Samudrala, Yashdeep Bhoge and Sachin Gupta lost to Korea’s Doohee Choi, Pil-Joong Kim and Mingi Seo 3-5 (53-53, 53-58, 56-54 54-55) in the semifinal.
They were locked 3-3, but the Koreans outwitted the Indian trio in the fifth set by one point to enter the final. The Indian men’s recurve team will face Italy for bronze. The recurve women’s team of Sangeeta, Tanisha Verma and Reeta Sawaiyan lost to China 4-5 (53-53, 56-55, 50-50, 53-57) and will take on France in the bronze playoff. (PTI)
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