Archery World Cup: Indian men in final; women to play for bronze

Kolkata, May 8 (IANS) Continuing the form that fetched them the men's recurve team gold in the World Cup Stage I, the Indian archers put the country in line for the yellow metal in the Stage II at Porec, Croatia Friday.

The troika of Jayanta Talukdar, Rahul Banerjee and Mangal Singh Champia would take on the Russian Federation in the final Saturday.

The Indian women's recurve team, comprising Bombayla Devi, Rimil Buriuly and Dola Banerjee, made it to the bronze medal play off against Ukraine.

The Indian men's outfit had no problem disposing off Slovakia at 224-193 in the first round and outshot the USA 227-218 in the quarter-finals.

The confidence gained from the two victories put India in good stead against Italy in the semi-finals as they prevailed over Italy 225-220 to move into the title round, according to information received here.

The women's side, ranked ninth, had a tough outing in the opening round against eighth-ranked Great Britain. The two teams were tied 217-217 before the Indians triumphed in the tie-breaker 28-23.

The Indian eves stunned top seeds Italy in the quarter-finals 217-212, but failed to consolidate the gains in the semi-finals against fourth-ranked France and lost the tie 206-209.