Indian archer Neeraj Chauhan defeated compatriot Dhiraj Bommadevara in an all-Indian bronze medal match to take the third prize in the men’s individual recurve event at the Okazaki Chuo Sogo Park Multipurpose Sq. here on Saturday
Neeraj defeated Dhiraj in a nail-biting clash 6-4 in a five-setter. Both the archers came into the match after losing their semifinals. Neeraj lost his semifinal to Japan’s Junya Nakanishi 1-7, while Dhiraj went down to South Korea’s Lee Woo-Seok in the last four.
In the bronze playoff, Neeraj won the first set with a score of 29-26, while he lost the second one 27-28 before going down in the third too, 28-29. Dhiraj was 4-2 up and needed to win only one set, but Neeraj nailed a perfect fourth set with three 10s to level things at 4-4.
Dhiraj started with 8 in the final set, while Neeraj hit a 10. Dhiraj improved to hit two 10s to tally 28 in the final set, and Neeraj needed 19 to win the bronze medal; he nailed a 9 and a 10 on the final two arrows to bag the bronze.
Both the archers had earlier bagged medals in mixed and team events. Dhiraj secured a silver alongside Kumkum Mohod in the mixed event final after losing to China in the gold medal clash.
Meanwhile, Dhiraj also won a team silver with Neeraj and Yashdeep Bhoge earlier. They lost to South Korea in the final to concede the gold medal.
Indian women’s archery has been extremely impressive in the ongoing Games. Kumkum Mohod has created history at the Asiad as she became the first Indian woman to win an individual recurve gold, stunning South Korea’s Oh Yejin. She also won a team gold with Kirti Sharma and Ankita Bhakat when the trio stunned 10-time champions Korea in the final.
