New Delhi, October 8, 2010: All the smiles the Indians sported in the morning session after their women’s team picked up the gold medal of the Commonwealth Games’ recurve team final, disappeared in the afternoon as the Indian men’s team, a sure shot gold winner, fell to the ultimate gold medal winnerAustralia in the semifinals at 216-211 at Yamuna Sports Complex here on Friday.
This left the Indian trio of Rahul Banerjee, Tarundeep Rai and Jayanta Talukdar, to fight for the bronze medal against England, which lost to Malaysia in the other semifinals at 217-213. The host salvaged some prestige by triumphing 221-218. Australia defeated Malaysia 219-212 in the summit clash.
The Indian women threesome of Laishram Bombayla Devi, Deepika Kumari and Dola Banerjee, stopped England 207-208 in a pulsating final. The Indians trailed throughout but turned the contest around in the final three arrows ought to speak the team members’ strong nerve.
Canada defeated Malaysia 202-192 to win the bronze medal.
In the semifinals, India had no problems in annihilating Malaysia 213-185 and England took care of Canada 208-200.
WOMEN’S TEAM FINAL: England has reached its third team final in a row and its compound men beat India for gold on Oct. 7. Great Britain, represented by Folkard/Oliver/Williamson, has met India six times in major archery events since 2004. The two countries are even with three victories each.
England had the better start with 9-8-9-7-9-10, while India scored 9-8-9-6-8-8. The Indians trailed 48-52. Bombayla/Deepika/Dola, shooting in this order, had some work ahead to come back in this game. India made some ground at the beginning of the second end with 8-9-9-9, while England had 7-8-7-8. However, India finished with 9-8, while England scored 10-10. The English still led 102-99. The Indians could not touch the 10 ring again in the third end (9-9-8-9-9-8), while England added two more 10s (7-10-10-9-8-8). England opened up a three-point advantage 154-151. India finally found its rhythm at the beginning of the last end with 9-10-9, but England kept it on track with 10-9-10. The Indian trio concluded with 9-9-10 while the English team fell apart with 9-6-8! India got a come-back victory 207-206 with the last three arrows! Silver for England, gold for India!
SEMIFINALS: The first recurve semifinal joined India and Malaysia on the field. The format was four ends of six arrows for each team. Best total score wins. The teams has three archers who rotate after each arrow and teams actually alternate with each other after three arrows. These two countries have met in the compound women’s bronze final with India emerging the winner. No wind in the venue again this morning but both teams must have been nervous as India led after the first end 50-45. The Indians were also better in the second end (53-48) to take a commending lead, 103-93! India was solid in the second half scoring seven 10s (9 in totals) to win the match 213-185.
MEN’S TEAM FINAL: These two countries have met three times since 2005 and Malaysia has won all meeting! Nevertheless the teams are close to each other in the world ranking: Australia at 15 and Malaysia at 17. (To note the bronze medallist India is No. 1 and Great Britain No. 8). Coached by 2000 Olympic champion Simon Fairweather, Australia showed they are a truly high level team in the first end scoring 9-10-10-10-9-9 (57), while Malaysia had 10-10-7-9-8-9 (53). Malaysia did a bit better in the second end 8-9-8-9-10-10 (54), but Australia kept it above with 10-8-9-10-10-9 (56). Australia led 113-107 at the half. Both teams dropped some points in the third end (52-51), but the Australians kept a good lead, 165-158. Cheng/Abdul Rahim/Ibrahim Putra finished with 10-8-7-10-10-9 for a total 212 points; good enough for silver. Gray/Masonwells/Worth scored 8-10-9-9-9-9 for 219 points. Australia is the new Commonwealth champion in Team Recurve Men!
BRONZE MEDAL PLAY-OFF: After two successive team finals for gold, these two countries had to battle for bronze this time. To note, India has met Great Britain (in fact the English team during these last few years) four times in major competitions since 2004. India leads 3-1, including two victories at World Cup stage in 2010. This time India started well with 9-9-9-9-10-9 for 55 points, while England scored 9-7-9-8-9-8 for 50. The English made some ground in the second end with 8-10-10-9-9-10 (56), while the Indians scored 9-9-8-9-10-9 (54). India 109-106. Terry/Wills/Godfrey put pressure in the third with 9-9-10-10-10-10 (58 points), but Banerjee/Rai/Talukdar responded with 10-9-9-10-10-9 (57) to keep a two-point advantage, 166-164.
SEMIFINALS: India had a difficult start this afternoon with the recurve men’s semifinal. A 6 in the first and no 10s put the team in a bit of disadvantage. Australia started really well with 10-8-9-9-10-10 and led 56-50. India was better in the second end 10-8-9-9-9-10 (55 points) but Australia also scored 55 points, 111-105. Another 6 by India in the third end did not help the team’s cause, but Australia also dropped a few points. The Australian lead was cut by four points, 161-157. The Indian trio finished with 9-10-9-8-9-9 (54) for a total of 211 points. The English team did not let go with 10-9-10-8-9-9 (55 points). The No. 4 seed Australia upset the No. 1 seed India 216-211!
Press release from Indian Archery Association