Archery World Cup Stage 2: Mixed Day for India with compound teams bowing out

Indian archers had a mixed day at Archery World Cup Stage 2 with compound teams losing in the quarter-finals while recurve teams qualifying for the next stage.

India's women's team, consisting of Jyothi Surekha Vennam, Aditi Swami, and Avneet Kaur, lost to Turkey, who was seeded sixth, 228-231 in the quarterfinals of the compound teams event.

Meanwhile, India's men's team, seeded fifth and comprised of Ojas Deotale, Rishabh Yadav, and Prathamesh Jawkar, also failed to advance in the medal race, losing to Mexico 231-234.

However, India's mixed pair of Ojas Deotale and Jyothi Surekha, who previously won the World Cup Stage 1, is still in the competition for the compound team event.

In the recurve qualifications, India's female archers performed better than their male counterparts. Simranjeet Kaur secured seventh place with 648 points, while teenager Bhajan Kaur finished in 17th place with 638 points.

Ankita Bhakat, an experienced archer, earned 24th place with 630 points. As a result, the team, which finished fourth in the seedings, will receive a first-round bye and advance directly to the pre-quarterfinals.

Fresh from clinching a maiden World Cup medal, a bronze in Stage 1 at Antalya last month, the 21-year-old Dhiraj Bommadevara was the best among the Indians in the men's recurve qualifiers.

The Army man shot 656 points en route to finishing 13th in the standings topped by veteran former world champion Brady Ellison who was way ahead, totaling 670.

The rest of the Indians came a cropper as the country's number one and two-time Olympian Atanu Das slipped to 44th place (638), while youngster Neeraj Chauhan (638) came third at 47th place.

Veteran Tarundeep Rai failed to make it to the team, finishing 57th after shooting 631 points.

The 39-year-old, a 2010 Asian Games silver medallist, had a poor day and shot four times in the outer six rings and five times in the seven-point red ring.

Having failed to make it to the team, Rai will be seen in action in the individual section only where he has his task cut out, as he will take on Tokyo Olympics double gold medallist Kim Je Deok in the opening round.

The men's team secured an eighth-place ranking to ensure a first-round bye and move into the second round directly where they will face ninth-seeded Chinese Taipei.