Gwangju (South Korea), Sep 10 (IANS) India’s recurve archers once again came up short on the big stage as the women’s team fell to South Korea in the bronze medal playoff, while the mixed pair and men’s individual hopes also ended in disappointment at the World Championships on Wednesday.

Desperate to end a decade-long medal drought in the recurve section, the women’s trio of Deepika Kumari, Gatha Khadake and Ankita Bhakat went down 3-5 against the formidable hosts. It was a missed opportunity for India, as the Koreans looked far from their dominant best with erratic shooting and no perfect set to their name.

After losing the opening set 51-54, India roared back with four 10s in the second to tie 57-57, unsettling a Korean unit that has won Olympic gold ten times in a row. Riding on that momentum, they clinched the third set 57-54 to draw level at 3-3, raising hopes of a breakthrough medal. But when the contest came down to the decider, the Koreans—led by Olympic champions An San and Lim Si-hyeon—held their nerve to take the fourth set 56-54 and the match 5-3.

There was further heartbreak in the mixed team event, where Deepika and Neeraj Chauhan lost in a shoot-off to Japan’s Nanami Asakuno and Yuki Kawata. After rallying from a set down and even leading 4-2, the Indians faltered in the decider, failing to produce a single 10 and going down 4-5 (18-19).

The men’s individual challenge ended earlier. Debutant Rahul impressed with a run to the last-32, but despite leading 5-1 against Georgia’s Aleksandre Machavariani, he slipped to a shoot-off defeat (8-10). Olympian Dhiraj Bommadevara lost 2-6 to former Olympic champion Mete Gazoz, while Neeraj Chauhan exited in straight sets to Uzbekistan’s Bobrajabov Bekzod.

The 31-year-old Deepika, returning to the Worlds after motherhood, is still searching for her elusive medal. Attention now shifts to the women’s individual section, with Deepika and rising 15-year-old Gatha carrying India’s hopes.

India’s recurve medal drought at the World Championships stretches back to 2019, when Atanu Das, Pravin Jadhav and Tarundeep Rai won team silver in Den Bosch. Since then, it has been left to the compound archers to deliver, and in Gwangju they have already secured a historic men’s team gold and mixed team silver through Rishabh Yadav and Jyothi Surekha Vennam.

–IANS

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