Antalya (Turkey): Indian men’s archery team followed its women compatriots in failing to secure an Olympic quota from the Final Qualifier and will now have to rely on rankings to qualify for the quadrennial showpiece slated next month.
A day after Indian women suffered a shock defeat to Ukraine in the pre-quarters, the world No 2 men’s team exited in the last-eight stage, going down to Mexico in the shoot-off in a dramatic fashion.
The top-seed India lost 4-5 (57-56, 57-53, 55-56, 55-58) (26-26*).
The men’s team event offered Olympic quotas to the top-three on the podium.
The loss came as a rude reality check for the Indian Olympic medal hopefuls as they were leading 4-0 after winning first two sets comprehensively.
Needing just a draw in the third set to advance into the semi-final, India lost by a point as Mexico went on to level four-all after winning the fourth set and sealed it by shooting closer to the centre in the shoot-off.
Having qualified as the top-seed, India earlier defeated Luxembourg in straight sets.
Both the men’s and women’s teams can still qualify based on their rankings ahead of the Paris Olympics cut-off date.
PTI
