Shanghai, May 11: India’s most decorated archer, Deepika Kumari, salvaged her pride with a hard-earned bronze medal after a semifinal heartbreak, while Parth Salunkhe also finished on the podium for the first time as India wrapped up their campaign at the Archery World Cup Stage 2 with seven medals, here Sunday.
A day after compound archers put up a dominating show with five medals, Deepika and Salunkhe added two more from the recurve section to end India’s campaign on a high.
Exactly a year after the 21-year-old reigning Olympic champion Lim Sihyeon had knocked Deepika out at the same stage of the Yecheon World Cup, the Indian was undone again by the Korean in the semifinal, losing 1-7 in a largely one-sided women’s recurve individual contest.
The 30-year-old four-time Olympian, though, bounced back strongly to defeat another Korean, Kang Chae Young, 7-3 in the bronze medal playoff and return with a consolation podium finish.
Deepika’s win took India’s overall medal tally to six at the event, with five coming from the compound section on Saturday that included a remarkable triple-medal haul by comeback archer Madhura Dhamangankar.
In the bronze medal playoff, Deepika showed greater composure and tactical clarity than her defeat to Lim in the semis.
The opening set ended in a 27-all tie, but Deepika edged ahead with a solid 28 in the second to take a 3-1 lead.
Kang, a former world champion who had beaten Deepika in the Berlin World Cup quarterfinals back in 2017, fought back in the third, scoring a flawless 30 to Deepika’s 27 to make it three-all.
The Indian responded with her best shooting under pressure, firing three perfect arrows for 30 in the fourth set to again take a 5-3 lead.
Needing just a draw in the final set to secure victory, Deepika delivered once more, shooting 29 to Kang’s 28, to bag the bronze.
Earlier, Deepika began nervously in the semifinal, losing the first set 26-27 despite hitting two 9s.
The second set saw both archers shoot 28, but Lim held steady to force a split and deny Deepika any rhythm.
The world No. 1 then shifted into top gear, drilling in a perfect 30 in the third set while Deepika managed 28. With momentum fully on her side, Lim wrapped up the match in the fourth with a 29, as Deepika managed a 28.
It was a repeat of their 2023 clash, though Deepika had managed to take two set points back then.
In the men’s section, 21-year-old Salunkhe, who qualified lowly at 60th place, impressed with his resilience after a 1-7 loss to top seed and Korean legend Kim Woojin in the semifinals.
After taking just one point off multiple Olympic medallist and reigning champion Woojin in his semifinal loss, Salunkhe bounced back impressively to beat higher-seeded French archer Baptiste Addis 6-4 in a tense five-settter to earn his maiden World Cup medal.
Salunkhe began in style with a flawless 30, including an X, to take the opening set. He slipped in the second, hitting an 8 that led to a 28-all tie. The third set was a scrappy affair, both archers managing just 25.
Addis then raised his level with a perfect 30 to level the match 4-4.
But the young Indian held his nerves in the decider, shooting two 10s, one of them an X, and a 9 to edge out Addis by a point. (PTI)
