Deepika bags her fifth silver at Archery World Cup Final, Dhiraj falls early

Indias premier recurve archer Deepika Kumari won her fifth silver medal at the Archery World Cup Final after losing the summit clash 06 to Chinas Li JiamanReturning to the Archery World Cup Final after three years following the birth of her daughter in December 2022 fourtime Olympian Deepika was seeded third in the eightarcher fieldShe had a smooth run through the semifinals but probably the pressure of gold medal match got to her against fourthseed Li Jiaman a team silver medalist from the Paris OlympicsIt was Deepikas ninth appearance at the Archery World Cup Final where she has also bagged a bronzeDola Banerjee is the only Indian archer to have won a gold in the World Cup Final having topped the podium in Dubai 2007In the mens recurve section Dhiraj Bommadevara despite leading 42 could not hold off the challenge from South Koreas Paris Olympics bronze medallist Lee Woo Seok in the opening round and made an early exit The pressure once again seemed to affect the Indian archers who have often struggled in highstakes matchesAlso Read EXCLUSIVE Motherhood could have cost Olympian Deepika husband Atanu wouldnrsquot let itThe fivemember Indian contingent comprising three compound and two recurve archers thus concluded their seasonending World Cup Final campaign with just one medalAfter a stellar semifinal win against Mexicos Alejandra Valencia Deepika couldnt maintain momentumShe dropped the first set by a single point 2627 Despite improving in the second set Lis flawless 30 including an Xring shot gave the Chinese archer a commanding a 20 lead 3028The third set proved decisive as Deepikas second arrow landed in the red 7ring allowing Li to claim victory with three solid 9s taking the set 2725 and sealing the gold on her debut World Cup Final appearanceIn the semifinals Deepika triumphed over home favourite and Paris Olympics bronze medalist Valencia edging her out 64 2928 2626 2629 2828 2827 It also avenged Deepikas bronze medal loss to Valencia from the Yecheon World Cup earlier this yearDeepikas campaign had begun with a dominant 60 victory over Chinas Yang Xiaolei 2723 2922 2927In the mens recurve thirdseeded Dhiraj was Indias sole qualifierFacing second seed Lee Woo Seok Dhiraj started strongly drawing the first set and winning the secondHowever he missed the opportunity to close out the match in the third by just one point with the South Korean drawing level before delivering flawless performances in the fourth and fifth setsDhiraj eventually lost 46 2828 2926 2828 2630 2829On the compound side the threemember Indian contingent returned emptyhanded ending their campaign on SaturdayPrathamesh Fuge finished fourth after a tense semifinal loss while Priyansh and Jyothi Surekha Vennam failed to reach the medal roundsWith agency inputs