Archery World Cup: India's men and women compound teams advance to bronze medal play-offs

Shanghai: The Indian men and women’s compound teams advanced to the bronze medal play-offs on a day of disappointments in stage one of the Archery World Cup in Shanghai on Thursday. The trio of Abhishek Verma, Rajat Chauhan and Chinna Raju Srither lost 233-236 to their Korean opponents in the men’s compound semifinal and they will face France for the bronze. [caption id=“attachment_4152463” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. AFP[/caption] “It’s a good start to the season. Last year we were the gold medallist team. This time, the bronze medal, we will play. It’s good,” Verma said. “Archery is tough, day by day, and it’s a great experience if you shoot a 60 and your opponent shoots the same. I’m not sad, I’m not happy, I’m quite easy.” The Indian men’s compound team, spearheaded by Verma, are the defending champions at the Asian Games. “This first tournament in Shanghai means a lot to us. Our last opponent team will also play at the Asian Games so it’s good practice,” Verma, who also won a silver at Incheon 2014, said. In the women’s compound team semi-final, Jyothi Surekha Vennam, Muskan Kirar and Mahdhumita Kumari had a close fight against the Russian team before going down 227-228. None of the recurve archers could progress into medal rounds and the best finish among them was by the women’s recurve team that progressed to quarters where they were ousted by China 1-5.