India ended their campaign in the 42nd World Archery Target championships on a disappointing note, finishing fourth in the men's recurve team event in New York on Sunday.
On the concluding day of the tournament, which began on July 14, the Indian team, comprising Satyadev Prasad, Tarundeep Rai and Acharya Ved Kumar, lost to Korea in the semi-finals 238-242 and then went down to Italy 244-252 in the bronze medal match, according to results on the official web site.
South Korea won the gold, beating Sweden 238-234 in the final.
Overall, it was a successful outing for the Indians, as the men's team qualified for the Athens Olympics 2004 by virtue of their entry to the semi-final, beating Russia in the quarter-finals.
The Indian women's team consisting of Dola Banerjee, Reena Kumari and Chekrovolu Swuro also qualified for the Olympics despite losing to Ukraine in the quarter-finals.
Dola, Satyadev and Tarundeep also made it to the Olympic Games to compete in the individual events.
The Koreans continued their record run of success and the United States re-established itself as a major force as they shared the glory in the team finals.
The South Koreans won both the men's and women's team recurve events, while the US matched the feat by winning both the men's and women's compound events.
The compound and recurve bows are differently-designed bows, with the recurve being the bow used in Olympic competition.
For the Koreans, it was business as usual. The brilliant Koreans swept both team gold medals at the Sydney 2000 Olympics and its men were also defending world champions.
In the women's event, Korea beat surprise finalist Japan 252-234 in their 27-arrow final, with Ukraine winning the bronze. The Korean men beat Sweden 238-234 in the final, with Italy third.
Like the Korean recurve shooters, the American compound shooters had been outstanding all week in their events. The US women scored a big final win against defending champions France 248-239, with Germany winning the bronze.
The American men, led by the father and son Dee and Reo Wilde, beat Italy for the world title, with Canada winning bronze.
The team finals were the last day of competition at the championships, which attracted a record 500 archers from 70 countries to New York. The US and Korea each won three gold medals, with Italy and Australia winning a gold medal each in individual events.
The next World Archery Championships will be held in Madrid, Spain, in 2005.
GOLD MEDALLISTS
Individual Events:
Women's Compound: Mary Zorn, USA
Men's Compound: Clint Freeman, Australia
Women's Recurve: Yun Mi Jin, South Korea
Men's Recurve: Michele Frangilli, Italy
Team Events :
Women's Compound: USA Christie Bisco, Amber Dawson, Aya La Brie, Mary Zorn
Men's Compound: USA Dave Cousins, Braden Gellenthien, Dee Wilde, Reo Wilde
Women's Recurve: South Korea (Lee Huyn Jung, Park Mi Kyung, Park Sung Hyun, un Mi Jin)
Men's Recurve: South Korea (Choi Young Kwang, Im Dong Hyun, Jang Yong Ho, Park yung Mo).
Final medal tally
| Team | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| Korea | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 |
| USA | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 |
| Italy | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Australia | 1 | - | 1 | 2 |
| Sweden | - | - | - | 1 |
| Japan | - | 1 | - | 1 |
| France | - | 1 | - | 1 |
| Ukraine | - | - | 1 | 1 |
| Germany | - | - | 1 | 1 |
| Canada | - | - | 1 | 1 |
| Netherlands | - | - | 1 | 1 |
Total medals : 24