India men, women in World Cup Stage 2 compound archery finals

India's men's compound archery team

IMAGE: India's men's compound archery team defeated Great Britain in the quarter-finals before overcoming a strong challenge from Denmark in the World Cup Stage 2 event in Shanghai on Wednesday. Photograph: SAI Media/X

India’s Indian men's and women's compound archery teams moved into the finals of the World Cup Stage 2 after commanding performances in Shanghai on Wednesday, assuring the country of two medals from the prestigious event.

The No 1-ranked men's team of Ojas Deotale, Abhishek Verma and Rishabh Yadav easily defeated Great Britain 239-232 in the quarter-finals before overcoming a strong challenge from Denmark 232-231.

In the women's compound section, top-ranked India, comprising Madhura Dhamangaonkar, Chikitha Taniparthi and Jyothi Surekha Vennam, overcame Kazakhstan in the quarter-finals, before defeating Great Britain in the last four to seal a title clash with Mexico.

Both the gold-medal matches against Mexico will take place on Saturday.

In the men's quarter-final against Great Britain, India lost the opening series 59-60 before the team pulled things back in the second at 60-58, thus taking the aggregate score after two sets to 119-118.

In the third series, the Indian trio was even more assertive, winning 60-57. They won by the same margin in the fourth set as well to win by seven points against the Great Britain trio of Ajay Scott, Adam Carpenter and Luke Davis.

India's women's compound archery team defeated Kazakhstan before overcoming fourth ranked Great Britain

IMAGE: India's women's compound archery team defeated Kazakhstan before overcoming fourth ranked Great Britain in the semi-finals. Photograph: SAI Media/X

In the semi-finals, India started off on the wrong foot, as they lost the opening series 57-60, before gaining momentum to level the scores at 58-58 in the second.

With the Danes leading by three points at 118-115 going into the third set, things looked uphill for India, but a remarkable turnaround transpired where the Indian trio slammed all their arrows in the bullseye even as Danish archers Mathias Fullerton, Martin Damsbo and Nicklas Bredal Bryld faltered with three '9s as India levelled the score 175-175.

The low-scoring decisive fourth series saw India miraculously take a one point lead at 57-56 to seal a berth in the final.

In the women's compound section, India, who received a bye in the opening round, defeated eighth-ranked Kazakhstan 232-229 before overcoming fourth ranked Great Britain 232-230 to secure a title clash against Mexico, ranked second in the world.

Last month in Auburndale (USA), the Indian compound mixed team of Jyothi Surekha Vennam and Rishabh Yadav clinched the gold medal at the World Cup Stage 1, defeating their Chinese Taipei opponents Huang I-Jou and Chen Chieh-Lun.