Para archers strike gold

Ahmedabad: India bagged two gold, two silver and one bronze on the penultimate day of the World Archery Para Series (Stage III) here Tuesday, with the men’s compound and recurve teams winning the top honours and Swati Chaudhary grabbing two medals. Reigning world champion Toman Kumar and Shyam Sundar Swami won the men’s compound team gold with a 152-139 victory over Iraq, while Harvinder Singh and Vijay Sundi rallied past Slovakia 6-2 for the men’s recurve team title.

The women’s recurve team of Bhawna and Pooja added a silver after losing to China 0-6, while Swati and Adil Mohamed Nazir Ansari finished runners-up in the Mixed Team W1 (Rec/Comp) event. Swati then returned in the afternoon session to claim bronze in the individual W1 category, defeating Russia’s Elena Krutova while competing under the Individual Neutral Athlete (AIN) flag, 6-2.

India also missed out on a bronze in the women’s compound team event, with Sheetal Devi and Payal Nag losing their third-place playoff to China. Swami and Toman clinched the gold medal in the men’s compound team event with a dominant win over Iraq’s Abbas Kadhim and Anwer Aldawod. The Indians made a slow start, scoring an 8 in the opening end, but quickly found their rhythm. They dropped just five points over the next 12 arrows to establish a commanding lead. Swami and Toman maintained their scoring consistency thereafter, with their accurate arrow execution leaving Iraq with little room for a comeback. Harvinder and Sundi fought back from an opening-set deficit to defeat Slovakia’s David Ivan and Denis Ivan 6-2, winning the match 34-37, 36-31, 38-34, 35-31. India struggled initially, with a 7 and no 10 in the opening set, allowing Slovakia to take an early advantage. But the Indian team quickly settled into their shooting rhythm with Harvinder, a double Paralympic medallist, leading the recovery.

The turning point came in the third set when India shot three 10s to take a 4-2 lead. They held their composure in the fourth set to complete the comeback and secure gold. Bhawna and Pooja fi nished with the silver medal after los ing to China 0-6 (23-34, 33-35, 30 31) in a one-sided fi nal. The Indian team struggled to find their scoring rhythm from the opening set, shooting 4, 5 and 6. They improved in the second set with three 8s and a 9, but could not close the gap. India again struggled in the third set, recording a 5 and a 7, and failed to register a 10 throughout the final as China comfortably sealed the gold. Swati and Adil Mohamed Nazir Ansari won silver in the Mixed Team W1 (Rec/Comp) event after losing to Czech Republic’s Sarka Pultar Musilova and David Dra honinsky 1-5 (31-38, 33-37, 33-33).

The Czech team took the opening two ends to establish a 4-0 lead. India fought back to draw the third end, but could not force the contest into a deciding stage as the Czech Republic secured gold. The W1 (Rec/Comp) category is a specialised para-archery class for athletes with severe physical impairments. W1 archers compete from wheelchairs and can use either a recurve or compound bow in the same event. The mixed team format features one male and one female archer from the same country. Swati then returned in the afternoon session to claim her second medal of the day, defeating Elena 6-2 in the W1 bronze-medal contest. Swati won the opening end 28-25, before the next two ends were tied 27-27 and 26-26. She then produced a decisive end, winning 26-24 to clinch the bronze. The result thus gave Swati a silver and bronze on the same day.

Meanwhile, Sheetal and Payal narrowly missed out on a medal in the women’s compound team event after losing the bronze-medal playoff to China’s Wang Huiting and Gao Fangxia. The Indian pair struggled to maintain scoring consistency across their 16 arrows and could not produce the high-scoring ends needed to stay in contention. Their best passage came in the second end, when they were only one point behind at 73-74. However, a poor third end allowed China to take the bronze medal.