Recurve archers fail to make it count

Antalya (Turkey), June 15

The Indian men’s recurve archery team followed its women compatriots in failing to secure an Olympics quota from the final qualifier and will now have to rely on rankings to qualify for the quadrennial showpiece slated next month.

A day after the Indian women suffered a shock defeat to Ukraine in the pre-quarters, the world No. 2 men’s team exited in the last-eight stage, going down to Mexico in the shoot-off in a dramatic fashion.

The top-seeded India lost 4-5 (57-56 57-53 55-56 55-58) (26-26*).

The men’s team event offered Olympics quotas to the top three finishers.

The loss came as a rude reality check for the Indian Olympics medal hopefuls as they were leading 4-0 after winning first two sets comprehensively.

Needing just a draw in the third set to advance into the semifinals, India lost by a point as Mexico went on to level four-all after winning the fourth set and sealed it by shooting closer to the centre in the shoot-off.

Having qualified as the top seeds, India earlier defeated Luxembourg in straight sets.

Both the men’s and women’s teams can still qualify based on their rankings ahead of the Paris Olympics cut-off date.