Archery World Cup Stage 3: Indian men's recurve team wins bronze

Indian archers defeated China to win a third bronze medal at the ongoing World Cup Stage 3 on Thursday.

The fourth-seeded Indian trio of Tushar Shelke, Mrinal Chauhan, and Dhiraj Bommadevara prevailed over China's Yang Keyang Li Mengqui and Wang Yan 5-3 (58-54, 55-56, 54-53, 56-56) to seal the bronze medal in the men's recurve team event.

The recurve women's team of Bhajan Kaur, Sangeeta, and Tanisha, who got a seventh seeding, made a second-round exit, going down to their rivals from France 3-5 (52-51, 53-54, 49-55, 52-52).

India had opened their account with a bronze medal each in men's and women's team compound events.

Earlier on Wednesday, teenage archer Bhajan grabbed a top-10 finish in the recurve women's qualification round to brighten up an otherwise lackluster show.

On a day, Koreans led the show on expected lines, the 17-year-old in her debut World Cup season put up a spirited show to score 668 points for a ninth-place finish in the qualifiers.

Sangeeta (651) and Tanisha Verma (648) were the next-best Indians at lowly 30th and 36th places.

Shanghai gold medallist Lim Sihyeon (684) carried her form to lead the Korean 1-2-3 finish in the 72-arrow 70-metre round.

Shelke was the best among the Indians with a lowly 16th-place finish in the men's recurve qualification.

Shelke shot 671 points in a field dominated by Koreans who took the top three places in the standings with Kim Woojin leading the way with a score of 696, just one off his Asian record set two years ago.

He finished ahead of Lee Woo Seok and Kim Je Deok, putting a disappointing showing in Shanghai last month behind him.

At 20th place, Chauhan (670) was the next best Indian, one point clear of World Cup Stage 1 bronze medallist Dhiraj who slipped to the 23rd spot.

India took fourth place in the men's recurve seedings that put them in line for a possible semifinal collision course against the top-seed Koreans.