Indian archers lose to Australia in pre-quarter final

India went down 236-248 to Australia in the pre-quarter final of the men's team archery event at the Olympic Games on Saturday.

India's quest for their first ever archery medal in Olympics ended in despair with the men's team going down tamely to fancied Australia in the pre-quarter finals here on Saturday.

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The Indians gave a close fight to their rivals in the first two series, before losing steam in the crucial last end, allowing the Australians to make it a completeley one sided affair at the historic Panathinaiko Stadium.

The Aussies kept their cool in the final stages and displayed great accuracy to widen the gap to an emphatic 12 points before coasting to a 248-236 victory.

The troika of Satyadev Prasad, Tarundeep Rai an Majhi Sawaiyan conceded a two-point lead to the Aussies at the end of the first series, and fell back by one more point in the second, before it became the all too familiar tale of the Indians failing to holds nerve in vital moments.

The Australians, ranked second in the world, picked up impressive scores of 27, 29 and and a full 30 in the last series to sail into the last eight. In contrast, the Indians carded only 29, 25 and 23.