Archery WC: Simranjeet storms into recurve women’s semifinal

SHANGHAI, MAY 8 (IANS): India’s Simranjeet Kaur advanced to the final four of the women’s recurve individual event at the Archery World Cup Stage 2 here at the Yuanshen Sports Centre on Friday.
On her first time on a World Cup final stage, Simranjeet doubled Fong You Jhu’s 10 count of two in the quarter-final, dropping an impressive 27, 28, 29 three-end score to sweep aside her Chinese Taipei counterpart 6-0. She was highly emotional once the result was confirmed, wiping away tears before quickly going on her phone to call her beloved father. Simranjeet actually finished bottom of the four-woman Indian recurve contingent in Wednesday’s qualification, with Ankita Bhakat 10th, Kumkum Anil Mohod 11th and regular stalwart Deepika Kumari 14th. However, Ankit’s, Kumkum’s and Deepika’s campaigns ended in the third and fourth rounds, respectively. Interestingly, Ankita lost 6-5 to Fong You, whom Simranjeet defeated in the quarterfinal, in the third round after a shoot-off. Meanwhile, Deepika suffered a 4-6 loss at the hands of Korean archer Kang Chaeyoung and Kumkum fell to Alejandra Valencia Trujillo 3-7 of Mexico.
The 2024 Asia Cup silver medallist Simranjeet is seeded 15th overall and therefore will not feature in India’s recurve women’s team gold medal match against China, although all four athletes could still leave Shanghai with medals on Sunday. In the men’s individual recurve, India’s campaign ended with Dhiraj Bommadevara’s 0-6 loss to Frenchman Jean-Charles Valladont in the fourth round.