Archery World Cup Stage 2: Prathamesh, Avneet in semis

Young Indian duo of Prathamesh Jawkar and Avneet Kaur overcame the mighty Korean challenge on way to entering the compound semifinals after the recurve archers crashed out of the team events in the Archery World Cup Stage 2 here on Thursday.

The 19-year-old Jawkar knocked out Korean eighth seed 149-148 in the individual compound quarterfinal. Jawkar will face Robin Jaatma of Estonia in the semifinal.

Avneet, 18, stunned Korean top-seed Oh Yoohyun 142-142 (10*-10) in a tight shoot-off finish in the pre-quarterfinals. In the quarters, Avneet defeated Dafne Quintero of Mexico 147-144 to set up a semifinal clash with Ella Gibson of England. Prathamesh and Avneet are now one win away from their maiden individual World Cup medals.

Earlier, it was a familiar script for Indian archers as they were eliminated by heavyweights Korea in the quarterfinals of the men’s recurve team events. The Indian trio of Dhiraj Bommadevara, Atanu Das and Neeraj Chauhan suffered a lopsided 0-6 (54-55, 56-57, 54-59) defeat at the hands of the top seeded Korean team of Lee Woo Seok, Kim Je Deok and Kim Woojin.

The eighth seeded Indian men’s recurve team began its campaign with a hard-fought 5-3 (57-57, 56-58, 57-56, 58-51) win over Chinese Taipei. The women’s trio of Simranjeet Kaur, Avneet Kaur and Ankita Bhakat, which got the fourth seeding in team qualification, put up a sloppy show to make a first-round exit.

They lost out to lower-ranked Indonesia 1-5 (54-57, 57-57, 50-52) in a one-sided affair.

In the recurve team events, Indian hopes will now rest on the mixed pair duo of Dhiraj Bommadevara and Simranjeet Kaur.

By virtue of finishing fifth in qualifiers, they have got a bye into the second round (pre-quarterfinals) in the recurve mixed team draw of 32.