India recurve archer Dhiraj Bommadevara missed out on a World Cup Final bronze medal in Hermosillo, Mexico on Monday morning Indian time.

Bommadevara was the only Indian competing in the recurve events and caused a big upset in the quarter-final to get his campaign underway.

Bommadevara faced his idol, two-time Olympic gold medallist and three-time World Champion, Kim Woojin in the quarter-final.

Kim began the match strongly shooting 29 with Bommadevara shooting 28. The Indian levelled the scores in the second set shooting a perfect 30 as Kim shot 28. The South Korean faltered once again in the third set shooting two 9s as Bommadevara notched up another 30.

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Bommadevara was in pole position going into the fourth set leading 4-2. Under pressure, Kim shot an uncharacteristic series of 9, 9 and 8. Bommadevara kept his nerves and shot two 10s and a 9 to clinch the set 29-26 and the match 6-2.

Bommadevara’s reward for beating Kim was a semi-final match against top seed Lee Woo Seok. The Indian looked to have started with a 30 with Lee shooting 28. However, on closer inspection of the arrows, the scores were tied at 29-29.

Lee shot a perfect 30 in the second and third sets while Bommadevara could only muster 27 and 28 respectively to give the South Korean a healthy 5-1 lead. Lee booked his spot in the final winning the fourth set 29-28, sending Bommadevara into the bronze medal match.

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The Indian faced Italy’s Mauro Nespoli in the third-place playoff and had a shaky start, shooting a 9 with his third arrow to lose the first set 30-29.

Both archers struggled with the wind in the second set, shooting 8s for an identical score of 27. The Italian’s struggles worsened in the third set as he shot a 7 and an 8 even as Bommadevara shot 29 to level the score at 3-3.

Having shot a series of 9, 8 and 10, Nespoli looked destined to go behind as Bommadevara needed a 10 to win the fourth set. However, the Indian faltered and shot an 8 to give Nespoli the set.

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There was still one more twist to come in the match as Nespoli shot a series of 9, 9 and 8 in the fifth set. Bommadevara responded with a series of 9, 9 and 10 to force a shoot off.

The experienced Italian held his nerve to land his arrow in the X circle. Bommadevara, however, could only shoot a 9 as Nespoli clinched a bronze medal.

India finish the World Cup Finals campaign with one silver medal which was won on Sunday morning by Prathamesh Jawkar in the men’s compound event.