Archery World Cup 2024: Deepika Kumari, Indian recurve archers draw blank in Yecheon
Deepika Kumari lost the bronze match to Olympic medallist Alejandra Valencia. India ended the World Cup with one gold and a silver, claimed in compound events.
Archery
The Indian recurve archers drew a blank at the Archery World Cup 2024 Stage 2 that concluded in Yecheon, the Republic of Korea on Sunday.
Three-time Olympian Deepika Kumari, the only Indian archer in contention for a medal on the final day of the competition, lost the women’s individual recurve archery bronze medal match to Mexico’s Alejandra Valencia by a 6-4 scoreline.
Valencia won the mixed team bronze medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Earlier in the day, Deepika lost to eventual gold medallist Lim Sihyeon of South Korea 6-2 in the semi-finals. Lim Sihyeon’s compatriot Jeon Hunyoung settled for the silver medal.
At the Archery World Cup Stage 1 held in Shanghai last month, Deepika won the individual silver medal.
It was Deepika’s second international medal since returning from the maternity break. She bagged the gold medal at the 2024 Asia Cup in Baghdad this February.
Earlier in the competition, Dhiraj Bommadevara, who has obtained India’s only archery quota for the Paris 2024 Olympics so far, and Tokyo Olympian Praveen Jadhav, were knocked out in the second round of the men’s individual recurve event.
The Indian men’s recurve team of Tarundeep Rai, Mrinal Chauhan and Dhiraj Bommadevara and the women’s team of Deepika Kumari, Bhajan Kaur and Ankita Bhakat were eliminated in the second round.
At the Archery World Cup in Shanghai, Tarundeep Rai, Pravin Jadhav and Dhiraj Bommadevara had claimed India’s first World Cup gold medal in men’s recurve team archery in 14 years.
Following Deepika Kumari’s loss to Valencia, India ended Stage 2 of the Archery World Cup with two medals.
World champion Aditi Swami, Asian Games champion Jyothi Surekha Vennam and Parneet Kaur combined to win the gold medal in the women’s compound team event. Jyothi Surekha Vennam and Priyansh clinched silver in the mixed compound team competition.
India had won eight medals - five gold, two silvers and one bronze - at the Stage 1 World Cup in Shanghai. The country’s compound archers accounted for five of these medals, including four golds.
The third stage of the Archery World Cup 2024 will be held in Antalya, Turkiye from June 18 to 23. It will double up as a qualifying event for the Paris 2024 Olympics.