Antalya (Turkey), May 22:
Four Indians including Deepika Kumari and Tarundeep Rai advanced into third round even as Atanu Das crashed out in the recurve individual section of the Archery World Cup Stage III here today.
Making their first international appearance this season after missing out the season-opening World Cup Stage I in Medellin due to travel issues, the Indians also kept themselves in medal hunt in the compound section where Avishek Verma and Rajat Chauhan also made it to round three.
The 21-year-old Atul Verma, a bronze medalist at the 2014 Youth Olympics, was the most impressive, shocking Shanghai World Cup gold medallist Deng Yu-Cheng of Chinese Taipei in a shoot-off.
Trailing 0-4 after two sets, Verma, a silver medalist at the 2017 World Youth Championship, made a stunning comeback winning the next two sets before the fifth one saw a 28-all tie.
In the shoot-off, Verma held his nerves to edge out his opponent 9-8 to set up a third round clash against world number two Steve Wijler of the Netherlands, a bronze medalist at the 2017 World Championships in Mexico. Verma had thrashed Gantugs Jantsan of Mongolia 7-3 in the first round.
Former Olympian Tarundeep Rai also remained in the medal fray and set up a third round clash with 17-year-old Japanese Aoshima Tetsuya, a bronze medallist at the 2017 World Youth Championships. (PTI)
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