Indian archers on a roll; clinch gold, bronze

Indian women's recurve team showed nerves of steel to win the gold, while the men's trio couldn't match up to their female counterparts and had to settle for a bronze in the archery competition of the Commonwealth Games at the Yamuna Sports Complex in New Delhi on Friday.

Indian women's recurve team of Dola Banerjee, Bombayala Devi Laishram and Deepika Kumari fought back brilliantly to cut a four-point lead and rally past their English opponents in the final round to clinch the gold medal.

The top-seed Indian men's team of Rahul Banerjee, Tarundeep Rai and Jayanta Talukdar were stunned by the Australian trio of Matthew Gray, Mat Masonwells and Taylor Worth 211-216 in the semi-finals.

But the trio made amends in the bronze play-off, beating England 221-218 for a podium finish.

Trailing 151-154 till the third set, the women's side rode on some luck and perfect 10s by double Olympian Dola and Deepika, to pip England 207-206 and earn the country its first Commonwealth Games gold in archery.

Archery made a return to the Commonwealth Games only for the second time in New Delhi after making a debut in the 1982 edition in Brisbane.

English archers faultered in the final round to give away the opening advantage.

In the semi-finals, the women's trio of Devi Laishram, Deepika and the Dola thrashed the lowly fifth seeded Malaysians 213-185.

The English trio of Naomi Folklard, Amy Oliver and Alison Williamson got the better of Canada 208-200 in the other last-four competition.

Bombayala shot a poor 6 out of 10 to let down the Indian team who managed 48 at the end of six arrrows in round one as their opponents took a four-point lead.

Down 48-52, India reduced the deficit to one-point as England shot 102 at the end of second round.

In a thrilling third round, both the Indian and English teams shot an identical 52, handing the hosts some advantage as the tilted home support created a perfect atmosphere for the home team to go for the final kill.

The script folded India's way in the final round, as an otherwise erratic Bombayla did not let the supporters down, shooting two 9s, while in-form Dola and Deepika remained consistent.

It was Oliver who did a Bombayala shooting 6 that tilted the match in India's favour as the crowd began to roar.

In the final arrow, Williamson shot an 8 that meant the veteran, Dola, needed a perfect 10 in her last attempt.

Dola, who is the only Indian woman to win the World Cup Finals (2007) did not disappoint, finding the bullseye to earn Indian women's team the team gold.

In the men's semi-finals, the World Cup Stage IV champions India dished out an inconsistent performance as the fifth-ranked Aussies performed better to make the final cut.

Rai, who was eliminated in the individual round after a 13th place finish, shot a poor 6 as India trailed 50-56 after the first set of 12 arrows.

The Athens Olympian Rai, who made a comeback after a shoulder injury, which put him out for about two years, gained his form slowly as the trio shot matched the Aussies with identical 55s in the second round.

But it was not enough as they still trailed England by six points.

Rai shot two perfect 10s but this time Banerjee let down with a six in third round as the Aussies trio settled the issue by over five points.