India wrapped up their campaign at the Archery World Cup Stage 1 with a creditable four medals, including a silver in the men`s recurve team event and a bronze by rising star Dhiraj Bommadevara in the individual recurve category, here on Sunday. The 23-year-old Army archer Dhiraj showed exceptional grit and composure to clinch the bronze medal match, bouncing back from a 2-4 deficit to beat Andres Temino Mediel of Spain 6-4 in a tense five-setter.
Earlier in the day, he was also part of the Indian trio alongside veterans Tarundeep Rai and Atanu Das that settled for silver after a 1-5 loss to China in the team final. India`s medal tally from the tournament stood at four — gold in the compound mixed team, bronze in compound men`s team, silver in recurve men`s team and bronze in recurve men`s individual (Dhiraj). India`s campaign also saw Abhishek Verma narrowly miss out on a medal, finishing fourth in the compound men`s individual section. In the bronze medal match, Dhiraj and Mediel tied the first set 28-28.
The Spaniard then edged ahead 29-28 in the second set with two 10s, while Dhiraj could manage only one, to take a 3-1 lead. The third set was again deadlocked at 29-29, putting Dhiraj under pressure. But the young Indian responded with a brilliant fourth set, hitting two 10s (including an X, the arrow closer to the centre) to win it 29-28 and level the score at 4-4. In the deciding set, Dhiraj was ice-cool under pressure, nailing three perfect 10s to seal a well-deserved bronze. Earlier in the semifinals, he had lost 1-7 to world No 4 and Paris Olympics silver medallist Florian Unruh of Germany, who proved too strong with consistently high scoring.
Earlier, the Indian men`s recurve team of Dhiraj, Tarundeep Rai and Atanu Das started well in the gold medal match against China, tying the first set 54-54. However, inconsistency in the second set¿marked by two 8s allowed the Chinese trio of Li Zhongyuan, Kao Wenchao and Wang Yan to pull ahead with a 58-55 scoreline. India needed to win the third set to stay in the contest, but again slipped with an 8, narrowly losing 54-55, as China clinched the gold with a 5-1 scoreline.
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