Shanghai, May 7 (IANS) Indian women’s recurve team staged an upset with a stunning semifinal win over 10-time Olympic champions South Korea and assured a medal at the Archery World Cup Stage 2 here on Thursday.

However, the men’s team, comprising Dhiraj Bommadevara, Tarundeep Rai and Yashdeep Sanjay Bhoge, suffered an opening-round exit after losing 2-6 against Bangladesh.

The women’s team of Deepika Kumari, Ankita Bhakat and teenager Kumkum Mohod defeated a Korean team of Lee Yunji, Oh Yejin and reigning world champion Kang Chaeyoung 5-1 in the semifinals to set up a gold medal clash against second seed China on Sunday.

The match opened with a dominant performance from the Indian trio, who managed to edge out the Korean team to take the initial lead. Both teams finished the second set with an identical score of 56, resulting in a split of the set points, with India holding a 2-1 lead.

In the deciding set, India’s performance was a mirror image of their excellence in set 1. After a steady start with two 9s, they closed with an incredible run of three 10s and an X and sealed a match along with a place in the final.

Meanwhile, the compound-mixed team of Ojas and Aditi Gopichand Swami suffered a 156-157 loss in the quarter-final against Alexis Ruiz and James Lutz of the USA.

On the other hand, the recurve mixed team of Ankita and Dhiraj fell 5-4 to the Brazilian pair of Ana Luiza Sliachticas Caetano and Marcus D’Almeida in the closely contested opening round match.

Earlier in the tournament, world no. 1 Indian compound men’s team Ojas Pravin Deotale, Sahil Rajesh Jadhav and Kushal Dalal lost 234-235 to the American team of Gaius Carter, world record holder James Lutz and Louis Price in the semifinal before losing the bronze medal match to China after two shoot-offs.

The Chinese trio of Shi Jingyu, Liu Jinyi and Qi Xiangshuo clinched the podium place by edging India with two Xs to one in the 10-ring during the final shoot-off.

The women’s compound team of Aditi, Pragati and Jyothi Surekha Vennam bowed out after a 227-233 quarter-final loss to the Turkish trio of Hazal Burun, Defne Cakmak and Emine Rabia Oguz.

–IANS

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