Deepika bags gold, bronze to spur India

Powered by Deepika Kumari’s gold and bronze medal performances on the concluding day, India finished fourth in the Archery World Cup Stage 3 in Medellin, Colombia.

The world number three recurve archer Deepika shot four perfect 10s in windy conditions to lead India to a 201-186 thrashing of China for the team gold medal on Sunday.

It was India’s first World Cup team gold since Shanghai in 2011.

Later, Deepika paired with Atanu Das to win the mixed team bronze with an 18-point margin (150-132) against the Mexicans.

India thus finished fourth with one gold and two bronze as the US topped the standings with nine medals (2-5-2), while China (2-1-2) and Colombia (1-1-0) were second and third respectively.

Top-seeded China comprising London Olympics team silver medallists Xu Jing, Cheng Ming and Cui Yuanyuan, an individual winner in Antalya, were the favourites with a 7-4 head-to-head track record.

But China had a disastrous first end with Ming missing the target completely and failing to register a score while Jing and Yuanyuan came up with 6 and 5.

The other two Indian members Rimil Buriuly and Bombayla Devi Laishram managed 11 between them while Deepika had an 8 to open up a massive 46-33 lead after the first end.

It was too late for China to stage a recovery as India extended their lead to 147-134 before the last six arrows.

The Chinese trio tried hard but it was difficult to hit the perfect 10s in windy conditions as Deepika showed class to ensure the gold by a handsome 15-point margin.