Gwangju, South Korea: The disappointing performance of the Indian men’s recurve archers at the World Championships continued, as all of them failed to advance to the individual medal rounds. Among the three Indian players, Rahul performed the best. He made it to the third round (last-32) but lost in a shoot-off to Georgia’s Aleksandre Machavariani with a score of 5-6 (8-10). The 21-year-old had taken a 5-3 lead but faltered in the final two sets, once again exposing India’s mental weaknesses under pressure in the recurve category.
After tying the first set 28-28, Rahul scored an excellent 30-30 in the second set and won the third set 28-27 to take a 5-1 lead. He only needed a draw in the fourth round, but he failed to perform well, which allowed his opponent to make a comeback. The Georgian archer won the fifth set 28-27 to force a shoot-off, where Rahul scored eight points while his opponent scored a perfect 10. The most experienced of the three, Olympian Dhiraj Bommadevara, had the toughest draw, as he faced former Olympic champion Mete Gazoz in the first round.
The top-seeded Indian player lost 2-6 after tying the first set 29-29. The second set was a close contest, but two 10s from Gazoz gave him a 29-28 lead. The Turkish archer then extended his lead to 5-2 with a 29-28 score in the third set.
Dhiraj tied the fourth set 29-29, but it was not enough to prevent Gazoz from winning. India’s other player, Neeraj Chauhan, lost in straight sets to Uzbekistan’s Bobrajabov Bekzod with scores of 27-29, 27-28, and 26-29.
