Indian men shoot down historic archery gold

Indian men archers today brought enormous cheers to the country's contingent as they bagged the first-ever gold in Asian Games archery after stunning hosts South Korea to lift the title in the non-Olympic Compound event, which has made its debut here.
This is India's second gold medal in the ongoing Games after shooter Jitu Rai earned the top position on the first day of the competition.
Men's trio of Rajat Chauhan, Sandeep Kumar and Abhishek Verma, coming from different states and backgrounds, worked wonderfully well in unison right through the 24-arrow finals to emerge triumphant by two points, 227-225.
Having pocketed the gold, the team celebrated and waved in delight to the Indian fans present at the Gyeyang Asiad Archery Field.

This was the second medal of the day from the venue, and came just one hour after the young Indian women's trio of Trisha Deb, Purvasha Shende and Jyothi Surekha clinched the bronze medal by winning the play-off against Iran 224-217.
The compound team thus made vast amends after a disappointing show put up by the Indian recurve team, which consisted of better known archers.

This is the first time India won a gold in the bow and arrow event.
"We have been noticing India's position on the medals table every day and were determined to win the gold today. We are delighted to have done it," said Jaipur-based Chauhan, who claimed he failed in 12th standard exams on four occasions.

Coach Ranjan Singh from Manipur cited the preparations of the team ahead of the Games as one of the reasons for the result.
"We went to Salt Lake City in the USA and trained under top coach De Wilde for 15 days. Then we came and trained in South Korea in different weather conditions at Gwangju which is four hours' drive from here for a month before reaching here for the Games," said Singh, a former junior national champion.