A brilliant performance by teenager Khalin Joshi helped Indian golf team end a 38-year long medal drought and bag a bronze in the biennial Asia-Pacific Golf Championships for the Nomura Cup.
Joshi was also tied for third in individual standings.
Indian team, which was lying third after three rounds, maintained its position to finish on the podium, aggregating 211 in the fourth and final round for a total of 865.
Australia, meanwhile, won the Nomura Cup for a record ninth time with a final round of 201 and a total of 840, while New Zealand finished second at 861 with a final round of 209.
Korea was fourth and Japan fifth in an event where best three cards counted each day.
It was India's first medal finish since 1973 when the Indian team won the title at Jakarta, Indonesia. The team then comprised of RK Pitamber, Billoo Sethi, Vikramjit Singh and Lakshman Singh.
Khalin Joshi, one of the most promising young Indian golfers, shot a superb four-under 68, his best score of the week for a total of three-under 285 that placed him tied third with Daniel Bringolf of Australia and Ryan Fox of New Zealand, all totalling 285.
Cameron Smith returned a final round four under par 68, for a nine under par total of nine-under 279, while Jake Higginbottom (66) finished second at seven-under 281.
While Smith and Higginbottom are automatically selected for the Asia-Pacific team to contest the Bonallack Trophy against Europe in Portugal next year, Khalin Joshi will have to compete with Bringolf and Fox for the other spots, which will be decided at the Asian Amateur Championships later in the year.
The President of the Indian Golf Union, Rohit Amit, hailed Indian team's performance.
"This performance of the Indian team shows how Indian golf has progressed in recent times. They won a silver medal at the Asian Games in Guangzhou and then the Asian Junior gold and now the bronze at the prestigious Nomura Cup.
"The Indian team has been going great guns and we have a fine bunch of young players, who will bring more laurels to the country. Individual performances of players like Khalin Joshi, third at Nomura Cup, besides Abhijit Chadha, winner of Faldo Series Asia Grand Final and Chikkarangappa shows Indian golf is in a very good health."
The High Performance coach of the Indian Golf Union, Alan Singh, said, "The Indian boys were superb and they did well on each of the four days and sometimes under very tough conditions. Their combination was excellent and this should be great for Indian golf."
