Gwangju (South Korea), May 18 (Agency) Indian compound women’s team clinched a bronze medal after beating Turkey. While men’s compound team paved their way to the finals of the Archery World Cup Stage II here on Wednesday. Women’s team comprising of Avneet Kaur, Muskan Kirar and Priya Gurjar got better of Turkish unit of Aysa Bera Suzer, Yesim Bostan and Singul Lok 232-231 in the bronze medal contest. Only one point separated India and Turkey after three ends. Heading into the fourth it was the Turkish group with the lead, 174-173. But India was able to turn things around, delivered an excellent 59 to close – two points more than Turkey’s 57, which was enough to tip the match in favour with 232-231.
“It’s a proud moment for our country. The wind is very tricky so we tried to shoot our best. At the next stage we will try to go for gold. It means a lot to us. We knew it was going to be a tight match and we were separated by only a point. We told ourselves we had to shoot a 60 in the last end,” said Gurjar. The Indian women lost 228-230 to the host South Korea in the semifinal after beating Chinese Taipei 228-226 in the quarters.
For the second straight stage of the international tour, men’s compound team showcased a dominating form as they edged out the mighty South Korea in the semifinal on Wednesday to seal the place in the gold medal clash. The men’s team of Abhishek Verma, Aman Saini and Rajat Chauhan trounced the Maerican team of Braden Gellenthien, Steve Marsh and Steve Anderson 234-228 in the quarterfinal and defeated Italy 235-229 in the opening round. The men’s compound team will square off with France for the gold medal on Saturday. In the world cup stage 1 in Antalya, India finished its campaign with two golds. The stage winners will automatically book a ticket for the Archery World Cup Final in October.