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Asian Archery: Ankita, Dhiraj strike gold
India’s recurve archers enjoyed a memorable day in Dhaka, bagging individual gold medals as well as the men’s team gold
New Delhi: Ankita Bhakat stunned Paris Olympics silver-medallist Nam Suhyeon of South Korea 7-3 while Dhiraj Bommadevara prevailed over compatriot Rahul 6-2 as India completed golden double in the individual recurve competition at the Asian Archery Championships in Dhaka on Friday.
Ankita, who came into the final after beating teammate and former world No.1 Deepika Kumari in a semi-final shoot-off, took the opening set 29-27 against Nam to set the tone. The second set ended at 27-all before Name drew level after claiming the third set 28-26, with Ankita unable to find a single 10.
But the Indian hit back brilliantly in the fourth, nailing two 10s in a superb 29-28 effort to lead 5-3. Ankita kept her cool in the decider to deliver two 10s that proved enough to win her a first Asian individual gold. The bronze medal went to another Indian with Sangeeta edging out Deepika 6-5 in a shoot-off.
India also secured the women’s recurve bronze after Sangeeta edged out veteran five-time Olympian Deepika Kumari 6-5 in a dramatic shoot-off.
In the men’s final, Dhiraj drew the first and third sets while winning the second and fourth to coast to a comfortable win over Rahul to become the first Indian man to claim the individual crown at the Asian meet.
The 24-year-old from Vijayawada had earlier come back after losing the opening set to South Korea’s Jang Chaehwan in the semis to post a 6-2 win.
Earlier, the men’s recurve team of Yashdeep Bhoge, Atanu Das and Rahul got the better of heavyweights South Korea in a nerve-wracking shoot-off to clinch its first Asian Championships gold in 18 years.
The Indians rallied from 2-4 down to script a dramatic 5-4 victory over a Korean second-string side comprising Seo Mingi, Kim Yechan and Jang Jiho, breaking Korea’s stranglehold on the event since 2009.
Both teams shot 29 in the shoot-off, but India were declared winners after Das delivered an assured 10 that finished closer to the centre than Korea’s, sealing India’s first Asian Championship men’s team gold since 2007. It was a memorable moment for recurve men’s team coach Rahul Banerjee, a member of that champion 2007 team alongside Mangal Singh Champia and Jayanta Talukdar.
Eighteen years after winning the title as an athlete, the 2010 Commonwealth Games gold-medallist anchored a second triumph, this time with his long-time protege Atanu Das in the squad. “It’s really fulfilling as a coach as we defeated Korea and didn’t choke. Atanu and I were discussing last night that we have not won a gold for a long time and it’s finally fulfilled. The next target is Asian Games,” Banerjee was quoted as saying by PTI.
