India's quest for its maiden Asian Games archery medal ended in heartbreak after star archer Dola Banerjee first failed to make it to the final and then lost the bronze medal clash against China's Zhao Ling at the Lusail Range in Doha on Monday.
Twenty-six-year old Dola raised India's hopes when she booked a semi-final berth while her teammate Reena Kumari lost in the quarter-finals of the women's individual round.
In the semi-finals, the Kolkata-based archer was overawed by the occasion and failed to produce her best to go down to her much higher ranked South Korean rival Yun Ok Hee 103-106.
The Indian made a tentative start scoring 24 (8, 8, 8) in her first round as compared to 27 by her rival (8, 9, 10).
Dola conceded a four-point lead in the second round hitting 25 (6, 10, 9) while Yun shot 29 (9, 10, 10). And the deficit of seven points made all the difference in the end.
In the bronze medal contest, Dola did not put up a good show and went down 77-83 to Chinas Zhao Ling.
Dola shot 25, 22, 16, 14 in her four rounds as against Zhaos 25, 22, 21, 15.