Continuing with their spectacular performance, Indian junior archers made it to five finals of team events at the Asia Cup Stage 2 on Thursday.  

The second-seeded Indian men’s recurve team beat Bangladesh 5-1 in a lopsided semifinal to meet third seeds Japan in the final. The recurve mixed team of Vaishnavi Pawar and Vishnu Choudhary beat Singapore’s Tabitha Ern Lin Yeo and Yue Long Li 5-3 to storm into the final.

India also entered the summit clash in the compound men’s team event with Kushal Dalal, Ganesh Thirumuru and Mihir Apar getting the better of fifth-seeded Australia in a closely fought semifinal which was decided by a shoot-off after both teams were even at 232 after four sets. India won the decider 30-29. They will meet Kazakhstan in the final.

In another close semifinal, the top-seeded Indian compound women’s team of Shanmukhi Budde, Tejal Salve and Tanishka Thokal beat fourth-seeded Kazakhstan 230-229. They will face Malaysia in the gold medal match.

Another top-seeded Indian compound mixed team of Shanmukhi and Kushal edged past Indonesia’s Nurisa Dian Ashrifah and Prima Wisnu Wardhana 155-154 in a semifinal that could have gone either way. They are pitted against third-seeded Kazakhstan in the summit clash.

The Indian women’s recurve team, however, failed to make it to the semifinal. The fifth-seeded trio of Vaishnavi Pawar, Kirti and Tamanna narrowly lost to fourth-seeded Japan 4-5 (26-28) in the shoot-off after a prolonged five-set battle. Japan edged past India by just two points in the shoot-off.

Indian archers are also in the contention for four individual medals on the final day of the tournament on Friday. India is assured of a gold medal in the women’s compound event with Shanmukhi facing Tejal in an all-Indian affair in the final. India is also looking to clinch a gold and a bronze medal in the men’s compound event. While Kushal will take on Joshua Mahon of Australia for the gold, Sachin Chechi will meet Himu Bachhar of Bangladesh for the bronze.