India win silver in Archery World Cup Stage II
India win silver in Archery World Cup Stage II
Rajat Chouhan and Manjudha Soy lost out by one point in the compound mixed team final to earn India a solitary silver medal in the Archery World Cup Stage II at Antalya, Turkey on Saturday.

Antalya, Turkey: Rajat Chouhan and Manjudha Soy lost out by one point in the compound mixed team final to earn India a solitary silver medal in the Archery World Cup Stage II at Antalya, Turkey on Saturday.

The unheralded Indian duo had a slender 112-111 lead against the Italian world champions Sergio Pagni and Marcella Toniolli at the end of the third set.

But the inexperienced Indians faltered by a couple of millimetres in the final arrow to go down 149-150 in a thrilling contest.

India have never won a gold medal in the compound section and their previous best in this format was in the Ogden World Cup 2011 (Stage III) when the women's team of Manjudha, Gagandeep Kaur and Jhano Hansdah had won a silver.

This is a second World Cup silver for Railways girl Manjudha, who hails from Jharkhand, while it's a first-ever silver in the mixed team event in the compound section.

Having just won a team bronze on Saturday morning, Pagni quickly adapted to the windy conditions along with his partner as the Italian opened up a three-point lead (39-36) in the first end.

However, Tonioli was caught by the wind in the second end with a 6 but Italy still held their lead (74-73) at the midway stage.

India's score of 39 in the third end put them in the driving seat as they snatched the lead (112-111).

But the match resulted in a tie before the final two arrows and Italy shot two perfect 10s to put pressure on India.

The duo crumbled under pressure with a 10-9, the last arrow being just a couple of millimetres out to miss out on what could have been a historic gold for India.

Earlier, the fancied Indian recurve archers had crashed out before the quarters as India concluded their campaign with silver from the compound archers.

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