New Delhi, May 10 (IANS) Mansukh Mandaviya congratulated India’s women’s recurve archery team after Deepika Kumari, Ankita Bhakat, and Kumkum Mohod clinched a historic gold medal at the Archery World Cup Stage 2 in Shanghai on Sunday.

The Indian trio defeated hosts China 5-4 (28-26) in a tense shoot-off in the final to secure India’s first Archery World Cup gold medal since 2021. Praising the archers after the memorable victory, Mandaviya lauded the team’s resilience and fighting spirit.

“Golden Grit, Fearless Spirit, Podium Finish! Heartiest congratulations to Deepika, Ankita, and Kumkum for clinching Gold at the Archery World Cup Stage 2. Your brilliance and determination have made the entire nation proud,” Mandaviya wrote on X.

India began the final strongly, taking the opening set before the Chinese team fought back to level the contest and eventually force a shoot-out after the four regulation sets ended tied. With the pressure mounting in front of the home crowd, the Indian archers held their nerve in the decider. Veteran archer Deepika Kumari delivered the decisive final arrow, scoring a crucial nine to seal the gold medal for India.

The triumph capped an impressive campaign for the Indian women’s recurve side, who had earlier stunned record 10-time Olympic champions South Korea in the semi-finals to book their place in the title clash. The gold medal also marked India’s second podium finish at the Shanghai leg of the World Cup after Sahil Jadhav secured bronze in the men’s individual compound event on Saturday.

Sahil defeated Denmark’s Martin Damsbo 147-144 in the bronze medal match to claim his maiden World Cup medal. The Indian archer bounced back strongly after losing the opening set and won the next four sets to finish on the podium. Earlier in the competition, Sahil edged past Austria’s Nico Wiener in a quarter-final shoot-off before falling narrowly to reigning world champion Nicolas Girard in the semi-finals.

India’s medal hopes in Shanghai also remained alive later on Sunday with Simranjeet Kaur advancing to the semi-finals of the women’s recurve individual event, moving within one victory of her first individual World Cup medal.

–IANS

vi/bsk/