Desperate to end a decade-long medal drought in the recurve section, the women\u2019s trio of Deepika Kumari, Gatha Khadake and Ankita Bhakat went down 3-5 against the formidable hosts. It was a missed opportunity for India, as the Koreans looked far from their dominant best with erratic shooting and no perfect set to their name.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
After losing the opening set 51-54, India roared back with four 10s in the second to tie 57-57, unsettling a Korean unit that has won Olympic gold ten times in a row. Riding on that momentum, they clinched the third set 57-54 to draw level at 3-3, raising hopes of a breakthrough medal. But when the contest came down to the decider, the Koreans\u2014led by Olympic champions An San and Lim Si-hyeon\u2014held their nerve to take the fourth set 56-54 and the match 5-3.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
There was further heartbreak in the mixed team event, where Deepika and Neeraj Chauhan lost in a shoot-off to Japan\u2019s Nanami Asakuno and Yuki Kawata. After rallying from a set down and even leading 4-2, the Indians faltered in the decider, failing to produce a single 10 and going down 4-5 (18-19).<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The men\u2019s individual challenge ended earlier. Debutant Rahul impressed with a run to the last-32, but despite leading 5-1 against Georgia\u2019s Aleksandre Machavariani, he slipped to a shoot-off defeat (8-10). Olympian Dhiraj Bommadevara lost 2-6 to former Olympic champion Mete Gazoz, while Neeraj Chauhan exited in straight sets to Uzbekistan\u2019s Bobrajabov Bekzod.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
There was further heartbreak in the mixed team event, where Deepika and Neeraj Chauhan lost in a shoot-off to Japan\u2019s Nanami Asakuno and Yuki Kawata. After rallying from a set down and even leading 4-2, the Indians faltered in the decider, failing to produce a single 10 and going down 4-5 (18-19).<\/p>\r\n\r\n
India\u2019s recurve medal drought at the World Championships stretches back to 2019, when Atanu Das, Pravin Jadhav and Tarundeep Rai won team silver in Den Bosch. Since then, it has been left to the compound archers to deliver, and in Gwangju they have already secured a historic men\u2019s team gold and mixed team silver through Rishabh Yadav and Jyothi Surekha Vennam.<\/p>\r\n\r\n