Praveen finishes in top-10

Shanghai (PTI): Competing without their coach, Indian compound archer Praveen Kumar finished ninth in the ranking round while the men's team combined for a fourth spot in the qualification round of the World Cup Stage II here on Tuesday.

Praveen shot 704, eight points behind topper Matt Sullivan of USA, to get a bye into second round. Praveen's teammates Lovejot Singh (21st) and Gurwinder Singh (44th) combined for a tally of 2091 points to take the fourth spot in the qualification round. They will face New Zealand, who are seeded 13th.

At 20th spot, Parveena was the best Indian in the compound women's section where Monali Jadhav and Priya Gurjar were 24th and 25th respectively as they combined to get sixth seeding as a team. The Indian compound women's team will begin their campaign against 11th ranked Singapore. Praveen will partner Parveena in the compound mixed pair, where India secured seventh seed to get a bye into the pre-quarters. The duo will take on Malaysia, seeded three rungs below. No compound coach has accompanied the Indian team.

In their absence, recurve coaches -- Sumesh Chandra Roy and Sawaiyan Majhi -- are doubling up as compound coaches. Ved Kumar could not board the flight as his passport was not renewed in time.

The other appointed coach, Kailash, had to be removed at the last minute following a protest that he did not have the coaching credentials in compound archery. Titomas Sharma was appointed as Kailash's replacement but it was too late for him to procure Visa.

After the travel issues, which prevented India's top team from attending season-opener World Cup in Medellin, the squad appears to have stuck to its original plan as a the reserves are fighting it out in Shanghai.