Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Rajat Chouhan and Manjudha Soy lost out by one point in the compound mixed team final to earn India a solitary silver medal in the Archery World Cup Stage II at Antalya,Turkey on Saturday.
The unheralded Indian duo had a slender 112-111 lead against the Italian World champions Sergio Pagni and Marcella Toniolli at the end of third set.
But Chouhan and Soy faltered by the smallest of error margins in the final arrow to go down 149-150 in a thrilling contest. India have never won a gold medal in the compound section and their previous best in this format was in the Ogden World Cup 2011 Stage III when the womens team of Manjudha,Gagandeep Kaur and Jhano Hansdah had won a silver.
This is a second World Cup silver for Railways girl Soy,who hails from Jharkhand,while its a first-ever silver in the mixed team event in the compound section. Having just won a team bronze this morning,Pagni quickly adapted to the windy condition along with his partner as the Italian opened up a three-point lead 39-36 in the first end.
However Tonioli was caught by the wind in the second end with a 6 but Italy still held their lead 74-73 at the midway stage. Indias score of 39 in the third end put them in the driving seat as they snatched the lead but the match resulted in a tie before the final two arrows and Italy shot two perfect 10s to put pressure on India.
