Archery WC: Indian recurve teams crash out of quarters, focus shifts to mixed and individual events

Madrid, Jul 9 (PTI) Indian recurve teams failed to justify their high seedings at the Archery World Cup Stage 4, crashing out in the quarterfinals of both the men’s and women’s sections after defeats to the USA here on Thursday. All eyes will now be on the recurve mixed pair event, where Dhiraj, fresh from winning gold with Kumkum Mohod at the Antalya World Cup last month, will partner Kirti Sharma for the first time. Having secured the second seeding, the duo will begin their campaign in the round of 16, needing three wins for a podium finish. Veteran four-time Olympian Deepika Kumari exited in the second round and Asian Games-bound Yashdeep Bhoge crashed out in the opening round, while all other six archers remained in fray in their respective individual categories across men and women sections. India have already secured a medal in the compound section, with the women's team making the final. The second-seeded men's recurve team of Dhiraj Bommadevara, Neeraj Chauhan, and Yashdeep Bhoge endured a sloppy outing against the seventh-seeded USA, losing in straight sets 6-0 (53-56, 55-59, 56-58). The American trio, led by multiple Olympic medalist Brady Ellison, mounted early pressure as India faltered with a 7 and an 8 in the opening set. Team USA then drilled in five perfect 10s from six arrows to build a commanding 4-0 lead before sealing their semifinal berth with a yet another consistent show. The women’s team of Ankita Bhakat, Kirti and Kumkum on the other hand put up a stronger fight but ultimately went down 2-6 (52-52, 54-55, 54-54, 51-56) to their American counterparts. While they managed to tie the first and third sets, a poor fourth set marred by three 8s and a 7 cost them the match. However, there're still bright chances in the individual section where Antalya World Cup champion Bommadevara has got second seeding and will begin from the round of 32 along side eight-seeded Neeraj Chauhan, and veteran Atanu Das who is seeded 26th. In the women's section, upcoming archer Kirti who is the best ranked indian in the qualification has got the fourth seeding as she along with Kumkum (14th), Ankita Bhakat (15th) will also begin from round of 32. Deepika who got a 16th seeding, endured a disappointing second round exit, going down to Polish Karina Kozlowska 5-6 (9-10) in a shootoff. PTI TAP AM AM