Archers bag two medals in Bangkok

KOLKATA: India claimed a gold and a silver in the Asia Cup archery Stage I meet that concluded in Bangkok on Saturday. It was a creditable show as the Archery Association of India (AAI) fielded a young, second-string team.
The men's compound team of Aman Saini, Shivansh Awasthi and Robert Singh Keithellakpam, who qualified third with a score of 20.68, scraped past Iran 231-230 in the final to claim gold.
The women's recurve trio of Sakshi Rajendra Shitole, Promila Daimary and Ankita Bhakat had to be satisfied with silver after going down 0-6 to Chinese Taipei in the final. Earlier, they beat Iran 6-2 in the quarterfinal after getting a bye in the first round by virtue of qualifying second in the 12-team competition. They then thrashed Malaysia 6-0 to make the final.
The Indian men's compound team had a smooth passage, brushing aside the challenge of United Arab Emirates 232-202 in the first round and Thailand 233-221 in the quarterfinal. The trio then saw off a tough challenge from Malaysia to squeeze out a 232-230 win in the last-four clash.
In the individual event, 19year-old Saini made the quarters before losing to Iran's 143-145 to Ebadi Esmaeil. The Iranian archer went on to win gold.
India went out in quarterfinal in both recurve and compound mixed team events.