Deepika Kumari pockets silver in Shanghai; India finish campaign with 8 medals

Shanghai: India’s men's recurve team of Dhiraj Bommadevara, Tarundeep Rai and Pravin Jadhav shocked reigning Olympic champions South Korea for a historic win to land an Archery World Cup gold medal after 14 years, in Shanghai on Sunday.

This is the Indian men's recurve team's maiden triumph over the archery powerhouse in a World Cup final, and it will boost their chances of securing a berth in the upcoming Paris Olympics.

In a battle between the top-two seeds of the competition, the Indians showed ice-cool composure to get the better of the mighty Koreans without dropping a set.

India won 5-1 (57-57, 57-55, 55-53), taking their gold medal count to five in the season-opening global showpiece.

Deepika Kumari bagged a silver medal in the women’s individual recurve event after losing to world no 2 Korean Lim Sih-yeon in the summit clash.

The former world number one Indian suffered a 0-6 (26-27, 27-29, 27-28) loss against top seed Lim to take the second spot on the podium.

Deepika battled up from the 30th seed, upsetting number six qualifier Jeon Hunyoung Jeon in the quarterfinals to make a final four. She defeated the Korean debutant Nam Suhyeon in the semifinal to set up a final with Lim.

The 29-year-old missed the Indian team in 2023 after becoming a mother in late 2022. Her early impact on this return to the international arena this week was minimal, with an underwhelming qualifying and the team taking an early exit. However, she excelled in the individual event and took second place on the podium.

With Deepika’s silver, India finished its campaign with five gold, two silver and a bronze in the tournament.

India (231 points) are now third in the world rankings behind China (241) and No. 1 South Korea (340) and are well-placed to make the Paris Olympics cut. Agencies

Also Read: Deepika Kumari storms into individual Recurve semifinals; Compound Mixed Team in final

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