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.
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.
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.
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.
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