Men's archery team knocked out after defeat in shoot-off

It was not the most auspicious of starts for the Indian archers as the men's team was knocked out after losing to Japan in an exciting shoot-off in the first round of the elimination round here today.

The three, however, are still to compete in the individual event to be held later.

The Indians and the Japanese were tied at 214 and in the shoot-off, Japan outgunned India 29-27 with the winner managing two 10s and a 9 compared to India's three 9s.

Ironically, the Indian trio at one stage was as much as three points ahead and had a two-point edge going into the last set of three arrows each.

Japan had an 8 9 and a 10 in the last set, while India had two 9s and one 8, leading to a shoot-off.

Banerjee summed up the match saying, "I am really disappointed. We were leading by three points. We all shot well but some of our 8s put us down. The crowd was really good. It was the best field I have ever seen."

Talukdar admitted that the Indians might have felt the pressure when he said, "I feel it has happened because of the pressure. We tried to hit 10s but it was always 9s."

He also added that illness cost them a couple of days of practice and may have caused weakness, "All three of us were in bed for two or three days, so our bodies got weak. Yesterday, during the ranking round, I could not shoot properly because of less body power."

Tarundeep said, "I was disappointed. We lost the team round but the game is still on. We have to focus on the individuals.

"It's very good to see that archery is getting more popular. We are performing in front of so many people here - we don't have the same support in India."