Talukdar beats reigning Olympic champ but loses in quarter-finals
HT Correspondent
NEW DELHI: India’s Jayanta Talukdar downed reigning Olympic champion Mete Gazoz of Turkey in the first round of the men’s individual recurve event at the Archery World Cup Stage 2 before narrowly losing the quarter-final to South Korean great Kim Woo-jin, who had won the men’s team gold in Tokyo 2020.
The 36-year-old, who returned home from World Cup Stage 1 in Antalya last month due to the death of his father, beat the Turk 6-0 (28-27, 28-27, 28-27) in the opener in Gwangju, South Korea, on Friday. He defeat German Felix Wieser 6-4 (29-28, 29-29, 29-29, 28-29, 29-24) in the second round. Talukdar then ousted Canadian Eric Peters 6-2 (27-28, 29-24, 27-25, 27-26) before losing to two-time Olympic team gold medallist Kim despite winning the first two sets and taking a 5-1 lead. He lost 5-6 (29-26, 29-27, 28-28, 26-29, 26-27) (10-X) in the shootoff with Kim’s arrow closer to the centre. Earlier, Kim had ousted Tarundeep Rai 2-6 (27-29, 29-28, 28-29, 27-30) in Round 3.
Seventh seeds Rai and Ridhi Phor, who got a bye into the prequarters, defeated 10th seed Japan 5-3 (33-38, 36-36, 38-32, 38-36) but India lost to Germany 1-5 (37-37, 32-35, 36-37) in mixed recurve team event.
In the women’s individual section, two-time youth world champion Komalika Bari lost in the first round, going down to Turk Yasemin Anagoz 4-6 (26-27, 25-27, 27-26, 23-25, 27-26). Phor, 17, made the prequarters before being ousted by Korean Lee Gahyun 5-6 (28-27, 28-29, 30-29, 26-27, 27-27) (8-9) in a shootoff.
India’s mixed team of compound archers will fight for bronze after their loss in the semi-finals. Abhishek Verma and Avneet Kaur ousted Denmark (157-155), Mexico (156-153) before losing to 10th seed Estonia (156-158). The sixth-seeded Indian team will face fourth seed Turkey.