Kolkata: The Indian recurve archers were off
to a fine start, finishing third in the team qualification
round on the third day of the 45th World Archery Championship
at Ulsan, Korea, today.
The Indian trio of Mangal Singh Champia, Jayanta Talukdar
and Rahul Banerjee cobbled together a total of 4006 points to
finish behind Korea (4122) and France (4026).
The Korean team surpassed its 2003 world record to set a
new mark with 4122 points.
Individually, Champia ended seventh overall with a total
of 1345 points. Talukdar was 13th with 1340 and Banerjee was
32nd with 1321 in a field of 115 archers.
Top Korean archer Oh Jin Hyek set two more records on a
dramatic day when a lot of big names found the going tough.
His individual total of 1386 was better than 1379 set by his
compatriot Oh Kyo-Moon in 2000.
Jin Hyek also set the record in 90m distance with a total
of 342 as against previous best of 337.
Defending world champion Im Dong-Hyun of Korea ended a
poor fourth with 1365 points and Olympic champion Viktor Ruban
of Ukraine was further behind at 11th with 1341.
Olympic silver medallist Park Kyung Mo fell by the
wayside and bronze medallist Bair Badenov of Russia was placed
12th.
In a field of 16 top teams, India will be seeded third
and avoid playing Korea before the final. If form plays true,
India and second seed France are expected to meet in the
semifinals.
In the run-up to the world championship, the same
three-member Indian men's team won two gold and a silver medal
in the first three World Cup meets. The trio also gave India
the Asian Championship team gold medal in 2007 after a gap of
18 years.
Bureau Report
First Published: Friday, September 04, 2009, 21:51