India men’s recurve team of Dhiraj Bommadevara, Tarundeep Rai and Pravin Jadhav shocked the reigning Olympic champions South Korea to land an Archery World Cup gold medal after 14 years, here on Sunday.
This triumph over the archery powerhouse also comes as a boost to their chances of securing a berth in the Paris Olympics.
The 40-year-old Army man Tarundeep was also a part of the gold medal-winning team in the Shanghai World Cup Stage 4 in August 2010. The recurve team, then comprising Rahul Banerjee, Tarundeep and Jayanta Talukdar, had defeated Japan.
In a battle between the top two seeds of the competition, India won 5-1, taking their gold medal count to five in the season-opening Stage 1 World Cup. Their success was followed by the recurve mixed team of Ankita Bhakat and Dhiraj who trounced Alejandra Valencia and Matias Grande of Mexico 6-0 to win bronze.
On a comeback trail after missing the whole of 2023 after becoming a mother in December 2022, Deepika Kumari faltered in the final hurdle to settle for a silver in the women’s recurve individual section.
In the final, she lost to Hangzhou Asian Games champion Lim Sihyeon in straight sets 6-0.
PTI
