Indian archers shine in compound team event (Second Lead)

NEW DELHI - Indian archers Thursday won their maiden Commonwealth Games medals, bagging a silver and a bronze here Thursday.

The men’s team comprising Ritul Chatterjee, Jignas Chittibomo and Chinna Raju Srither went down to England to settle for the silver in the compound event.

The match went down the wire with the seasoned England beating India 231-229 to win its second archery gold of the Games.

Earlier, the trio of Gagandeep Kaur, Jhano Hansdah and Bheigyabati Chanu bagged an unexpected bronze in the women’s compound team event, country’s first archery medal in the Games.

The hosts defeated Malaysia 223-219 in the bronze play-off at the Yamuna Sports complex here. Eventual silver medallist Canada beat India in the semifinals by a seven-point difference with the final scoreline reading 224-217. England won the gold.

Archery has returned to the Games after 28 years.

The Indian archers won the spectators’ hearts with their fine display.

Gagandeep was emotional after the podium finish. “It’s the first archery medal for India in the Games. I am excited to be part of this. We tried our best in the semifinals but it did not happen.”

The Indian archers managed a medal despite getting their bows and arrows only a month before the competition.

“We got the equipment late but it did not affect our performance in the end,” Jhano told IANS.

Archery Association of India secretary general Paresh Nath Mukherjee said the medals in the compound category were a bonus as the country’s hopes to garner a large number of medals from the discipline rested primarily on the recurve archers.