Indian women's compound team bag bronze to open account in World C'ship

Indian women's compound archery team of Jyothi Surekha Vennam, Muskan Kirar and Raj Kaur came from behind to down Turkey by three points and win a bronze medal in the World Championships here Saturday.

Jyothi led the fightback as the Asian Games silver medallist overcame a jittery start to shoot six perfect 10s out of eight arrows to seal a 229-226 win and open their account.

"Last time (Mexico City 2017) we won a silver but no regrets. We are happy to finish on the podium this time too," Jyothi said.

"World Championship medal means a lot as it comes after two years," added the 22-year-old from Vijayawada, who will fight for a second bronze medal when she takes on world number two Yesim Bostan of Turkey later in the day.

India are also in the fray for a first-ever World Championship gold medal with the men's recurve team taking on China Sunday in a bid to upgrade their 2005 Madrid silver medal.

The Turk team of Yesim, Gizem Elmaagacli and Ipek Tomruk shot four perfect scores to win the first end by two points (57-55) with Jyothi starting off with an 8.

"The shot was good but I failed to fathom why it hit the outer (8) circle. But it's okay," she said.

In the second end, the Turkey team failed to find the centre even once, while shooting an 8. Indians snatched the opportunity and grabbed a three-point lead, winning by 58-53 with Jyothi finding her rhythm back.

Trailing by three points at the midway stage, the Turks got off to a solid start to the third end with four perfect shots and an X to aggregate 58.

But the Indians remained unnerved and shot three 10s and one closest to the centre to level the third end (58-58) that kept their three-point lead intact.

It was about holding their nerves as India once again shot a consistent 58 to level the fourth end that was enough to clinch the bronze.

"It's my first world championship medal, so I'm really excited. They put up a solid show, but we did better than them," Raj Kaur, who made a World Championship debut, said.