Chauhan bags historic silver in World Championships

Gagan k Teja

tribune news service

patiala, August 1 

Rajat Chauhan earned India its first-ever individual medal in the World Archery Championships when the compound marksman bagged a silver medal after losing to local favourite Stephan Hansen in the final.

The 2014 Asian Games team gold medallist was neck-and-neck with his opponent till the third set when he shot a poor 8 and 9 as Hansen gained a three-point lead before clinching the gold medal (147-143) in a fiercely contested individual men's compound final.

This is the first individual medal for an Indian archer in the World Archery Championship. The women's recurve team of Deepika Kumari, Chekrovolu Swuro and Laishram Bombayla Devi had won India a World Championship medal in 2011.

Speaking to the Tribune, Chahuan said, “Winning a medal in a prestigious tournament is very exciting and I am very happy about it, though, I would have loved to win the gold medal. Everything was perfect till I shot one wrong arrow, and it cost me dear. However, I am looking forward to better my performance in the next tournaments.” 

Chauhan, 20, put pressure on the reigning youth world champion as he matched the local lad by shooting two perfect 10s and one nine in the first set. In the second set, both shot two 10s each en route to totalling 58-58. Hansen shot a perfect 30 in the third set to nose ahead with 88-85 lead. The Indian archer shot 30 in the fourth set but Hansen settled the issue in the fifth set. 

Recently, Chauhan had set a new national record by scoring 711 points in the ranking rounds during the World Championship trials in June. He had also equalled another national record, set by Abhishek Verma, scoring 357 points out of the total 360 from a distance of 50 metres.

Women’s team in gold medal match

India have two more medal prospects in the recurve section tomorrow when the women's team of Deepika Kumari, Rimil Buriuly and Laxmirani Majhi will vie for the gold against their Russia opponents. Laxmirani will be eying a second medal from the meet when she competes against Misun Choi of Korea in the bronze medal play-off. 

Archery Association of India treasurer Virendra Sachdeva said, “I am very proud of the Indian archers who have given very good performances throughout the tournament.”