The Indian men’s team faced a tough defeat in the finals at the held in Okazaki on October 2. The team, consisting of Neeraj Chauhan, Yashdeep Bhoge, and Dheeraj Bommadevara, lost to South Korea, a nine-time champion, with a score of 1-5.
This marks India’s second consecutive silver medal in the men’s recurve team event at the Asian Games. The team had previously encountered the same opponent in the finals at Hangzhou 2023, resulting in another loss. Notably, Olympian Dheeraj Bommadevara was part of both silver-winning teams.
Throughout the match, the Indian archers struggled against their Korean counterparts, managing to tie only one set while losing the others. In the first set, both teams scored 56 points, sharing the points equally.
However, South Korea’s superior performance shone through in the second set, where they capitalized on Indian errors to win 57-40. With a 3-1 lead, South Korea clinched the third set with a score of 56-54, not missing a single shot in the final set, while India scored only seven.
The match began with both teams tied at 1-1 in the first set. Indian archers had a chance to secure the set, needing 28 points from their last three arrows to surpass South Korea’s score. Unfortunately, they managed only 27 points.
In the second set, South Korea excelled, hitting four arrows at 10, while the Indian team failed to score any perfect shots. Yashdeep and Neeraj each scored eight, while Dheeraj missed his target, leading to a second-set loss of 57-50.
The final set left little room for error. India opened strong with 28 points from their first three arrows, but South Korea matched them. Neeraj managed to score seven points on the fourth arrow, while Yashdeep and Dheeraj added nine and ten points, respectively.
Ultimately, South Korea required 27 points to win the match and achieved this with their last three arrows, finishing the set at 56-54 and the match at 5-1.