Date:24/06/2005 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2005/06/24/stories/2005062408322000.htm

Sport - Archery

Rai in quarterfinals

Special Correspondent

KOLKATA: Tarundeep Rai was the lone Indian left in the fray in the individual elimination round of the men's recurve event of the 43rd World outdoor target archery championship in Madrid. Rai takes on Butch Johnson of the U.S. in the quarterfinals.

According to information reaching here, the other 15 Indians bowed out of the individual championship in recurve and compound events.

Dola, the best Indian bet, lost 147-149 to eighth-seeded Margarita Galinovskaya of Russia in the pre-quarterfinals. In the men's recurve, Gautam Singh Sardar (ASI) and Jayant Talukdar (Jharkhand) put up a spirited fight before going down in the pre-quarterfinals. Sardar lost 159-162 to second-seeded Korean Chung Jae Hun, while sixth seed Choi Won Jong of Korea eliminated Talukdar with a 159-158 win.

Jhano Hansdah and Sakro Besra both lost in the second round of the women's compound event. The day's surprise was Bansaralin Dhar. The Shillong lady, qualifying in 31st place, ousted second- seeded Anna Kazantseva of Russia in the second round before falling to 15th seed Valerie Fabre of France at 155-160. All the four men failed to make the elimination round. Only first 64 qualify.

Apart from Rai, India's main hope was the team championship. The second ranked men's team takes on 15th ranked Germany while the women meet 12th ranked Georgia in the round of 16. In the compound event, the Indian team finished 24th and failed to qualify while the women ended seventh and play 10th ranked Germany. The team championship matches would be held on Friday.

The results (Indian unless stated):

Men's recurve (individual elimination round, pre-quarterfinals): Tarundeep Rai bt Yong Fujun (Chn) 164-161, Chung Jae-Hun (Kor) bt Gautam Singh Sardar 162-159, Choi Won Jong (Kor) bt Jayant Talukdar 159-158. Second round: Rai bt Vic Wunderle (U.S.) 161-150, Talukdar bt Wietse van Alten (Ned) 167-151, Sardar bt Hiroshi Yamamoto (Jpn) 160-158. First round: Rai bt Eduardo Velez (Mex) 164-158, Talukdar bt Francesco Lunetti (Ita) 159-152, Michele Frangilli (Ita) bt Robin Hansda 171-164, Sardar bt Jens Pieper (Ger) 159*-159 (tie-breaker).

Women's pre-quarterfinals: Margarita Galinovskaya (Rus) bt Dola Banerjee 149-147. Second round: Dola bt Veronika Haidn-Tchalova (Ger) 161-157; Femke Boonen (Ned) bt Reena Kumari 154-146. First round: Dola bt Natalia Nasaridze (Tur) 156*-156 (tie-breaker), Veronika Haidn-Tchalova bt Chekrovolu Swuro 160-158, Reena bt Beatriz Gomez (Spa) 167-145, Khatuna Lorig (U.S.) bt Ranu 159-155.

Compound women, pre-quarterfinals: Valerie Fabre (Fra) bt Bansaralin Dhar 160-155. Second round: Anna Lisa Tuuttu (Fin) bt Jhano Hansdah 163-156, Sofya Goncharova (Rus) bt Sakro Besra 167-158, Bansaralin bt Anna Kazantseva (Rus) 166-164. First round: Jhano bt Olga Zandvliet (Ned) 165-149, Sakro bt Glorgia Salato (Ita) 164-163, Bansaralin bt Ivana Buden (Cro) 163-160.