KOLKATA: Indian men recurve archers brought a lot of cheer after two days of gloom in the

05/09/2009

Sporty India Updated

KOLKATA: Indian men recurve archers brought a lot of cheer after two days of gloom in the World archery championship at Ulsan (South Korea) on Friday. India finished third overall with a total of 4006 behind Korea which scored a world record total of 4122. France was second with 4026.
India’s excellent show was due to superb individual performances by Mangal Singh Champia and Jayanta Talukdar. Champia was seventh overall in individual qualification with 1345 points while Talukdar was 13th with 1340.
Rahul Banerjee slipped badly to 32nd place (1321) in a field of 115 archers. Had he performed to his potential, India would have pipped France to the second spot because a mere 20 points separated them.
Korean archer Oh Jin Hyek set two world records in the individual total and in the 90m distance. His 1386 bettered the previous best of 1379 by Oh Kyo-Moon set in 2000 and in 90m event he scored 342 which eclipsed the previous best of 337.
Korea’s team total of 4122 surpassed the previous world record of 4074 set by Korea at the New York Worlds in 2003.
The Indian teams third-place finish in the team qualification meant it would not have to play Korea before the final.