Archery | Dhiraj wins historic men’s recurve gold at Saltillo World Cup Final

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Asian champion B. Dhiraj gave his Asian Games preparations a big boost by securing his maiden World Cup Final (WCF) medal as he claimed the recurve men’s gold medal at Saltillo, Mexico, on Sunday. He is the first Indian male recurve archer to strike a gold in the WCF.

A determined and focused Dhiraj consistently logged impressive scores, including six 10s, to convincingly upset a shaky Berkim Tumer, an Olympic medallist, of Turkey 7-1 (28-25, 29-26, 28-28, 29-27) in the quarterfinal.

In the semifinals against France’s Olympic medallist Jean-Charles Valladont, Dhiraj maintained his focus and shot fluently to record another 7-1 (28-25, 28-28, 29-24, 29-28) victory.

In the nail-biting title clash against Japanese World championships medallist Nakanishi Junya, Dhiraj, competing in his third WCF, rallied to post a 6-5 (28-28, 28-29, 29-28, 28-30, 28-27, shoot-off: 10-9) via tie-breaker.

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