Indian men's compound archery team, comprising Kushal Dalal, Sahil Jadhav and Ganesh Mani Ratnam Thirumuru, staged a comeback against China in the men's team final to win gold at the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya on Wednesday.
The Indian trio edged out China's Jiahao Liao, Jinyi Liu and Jingyu Shi 238-237 in a dramatic final, completing a hat-trick of gold medals for India's compound archers.
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The victory came soon after India had trailed by two points during the final and needed a strong finish to overturn China's lead.
India fell 58-60 behind after the opening end following two 9s in the third and fifth shots. The Indian archers responded with six perfect 10s in the next end but still trailed 118-120.
The gap was reduced to one point at 178-179 after the third end, setting up a tense finish.
China's Jiahao Liao then shot an 8, opening the door for India. The Indian trio capitalised with a flawless final six shots to finish on 238 and secure the gold medal by a one-point margin.
India had earlier defeated Korea 236-229 in the semifinals. The Korean team comprised Choi Eun Gyu, Choi Yonghee and Kim Jongho.
The men's team gold means India have successfully retained all three compound archery titles they won at the previous Asian Games in Hangzhou.
Also read: India bags gold medal in compound mixed archery team finals, beats Korea
Earlier in the tournament, India's compound mixed team of Chikitha Taniparthi and Sahil Jadhav won gold after defeating Korea in a tense shoot-off. The victory also secured an Olympic quota place for the 2028 Games.
India's women's compound team also finished on top, completing the country's clean sweep of the three compound archery team gold medals at the Asian Games.
The men's team's victory adds another gold to India's campaign in Aichi-Nagoya and caps a dramatic comeback after China had held the advantage for most of the final.
