Asian Archery Championships: Indian recurve teams make gold medal match

Both the men’s and women’s compound teams, meanwhile, will be aiming for the bronze medal.

2 minBy Utathya Nag
Pravin Jadhav is a key member of the Indian men’s archery team.
(Getty Images)

After disappointing in the individual elimination matches, Indian recurve archers bounced back at the Asian Archery Championships 2021 on Tuesday with both the men’s and women’s teams entering the finals of their respective events.

The compound teams, however, lost in the semi-finals and will now vie for the bronze medal in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

The Indian men’s recurve team, composed of Tokyo Olympian Pravin Jadhav, Parth Salunkhe and Kapil, got a bye in the first round before blanking Saudi Arabia 6-0 in the quarter-finals. In the semis, the Indian trio were pushed by hosts Bangladesh but eventually persevered, winning the match 5-4 via shoot off.

The Indian men will battle it out with top seeds South Korea for the gold medal on Friday.

In a smaller women’s field, India’s Ankita Bhakat, Ridhi Phor and Madhu Vedwan got a bye in the quarter-finals before cruising past Vietnam 6-0 in the semi-finals to qualify for the gold medal match.

Like the men’s team, they will also face South Korea for the top honour on Friday.

Meanwhile, India’s Abhishek Verma, Rishabh Yadav and Aman Saini could only earn a bronze medal shot in the men’s compound team event.

The Indian trio comfortably beat Kuwait 236-218 in the quarter-finals but fell 230-229 to Kazakhstan in a closely-fought semi-final. Abhishek Verma and Co. will face Bangladesh in the bronze medal match on Wednesday.

In the women’s compound team category, India’s Jyothi Vennam, Priya Gurjar and Parneet Kaur got a first round bye before losing 227-220 against Iran in the final four.

The three will be up against Kazakhstan in their bronze medal match on Wednesday.