Indian recurve teams crash out in Stage 4 Archery World Cup

India made a dismal start to their Archery World Cup Stage 4 campaign, with both the recurve men’s and women’s teams crashing out in their respective opening-round matches here on Thursday. Former Commonwealth Games champion Rahul Banerjee’s stint as the women’s recurve team coach got off to a disappointing start as his wards showed little mental composure or fighting spirit, squandering a commanding 3-1 lead to lower-seeded France to lose 3-5 in their opening fixture.

The trio of Ankita Bhakat, Deepika Kumari and 15-year-old debutant Gatha Khadake, who earned an impressive fourth seeding in the qualifications, began strongly by dropping just two points to take the first set 58-54. However, the Indians slipped to 55 points in the second set, allowing France to draw level despite India still holding a two-point advantage overall.

An untimely eight-point arrow in the third set proved costly as France edged it 56-54 to level the match 3-3, piling pressure on the Indian women's side coached by Banerjee. Under pressure, the Indians faltered badly, shooting a wayward six-pointer to total a poor 53 in the fourth set, losing it by one point and conceding the match without a fightback.

India had opened their campaign directly from the pre-quarterfinals (second round) due to their fourth seeding. France, seeded 13th, also began from the same stage. The Indian men’s team, seeded ninth, fared no better, suffering an equally disappointing exit in their opening round (also the pre-quarterfinals), losing 2-6 to eighth seed Brazil.

The Indian trio of Dhiraj Bommadevara, rookie Rahul Singh and Neeraj Chauhan lost the first set 55-56 before managing just 54 in the second to fall further behind as Brazil shot 57. They briefly revived hopes by winning the third set 57-56, but the Brazilians held their composure to clinch the fourth 56-54 and secure a quarterfinal spot.

Adding to the overall gloom, the recurve archers turned in a lacklustre show in the qualification rounds too, with none -- including seasoned names like Deepika Kumari and Tarundeep Rai -- finishing inside the top 10 earlier on Wednesday.

In the men’s event, Dhiraj was the best-placed Indian at 13th, while debutant Rahul and Chauhan finished a lowly 34th and 35th respectively, leaving India ninth in the team standings. The Indian women fared marginally better, with Ankita Bhakat (15th), Deepika (18th) and Gatha (25th) managing to stay within the top 30, though it was far from the performance expected at this level.

The recurve archers' hopes now rest on the mixed team and individual events, but given their poor rankings, it remains to be seen how far they can progress. The mixed team, which got ninth seedings, will see Ankita partnering with Dhiraj by virtue of being the best-placed Indian finishers in the qualifiers.