Asian Games: Neeraj Chauhan Beats Dhiraj Bommadevara 6-4 to Claim Historic Recurve Bronze

Nagoya, Oct 3: Neeraj Chauhan produced a composed comeback to defeat top seed and compatriot Dhiraj Bommadevara 6-4 and clinch the men's individual recurve bronze medal at the Asian Games here on Saturday.

In an all-Indian bronze-medal clash, Neeraj overcame a 2-4 deficit before holding his nerve in the deciding set to complete a memorable victory.

The medal made Neeraj only the second Indian male archer after Tarundeep Rai to win an individual recurve medal at the Asian Games. Rai had claimed silver at the 2010 Guangzhou Games.

India finished its archery campaign at the top of the medal standings with nine medals - five gold, two silver and two bronze.

Neeraj and Dhiraj had shared the podium on Friday after combining to win silver in the men's team event. However, their paths crossed in the individual bronze-medal contest after both suffered defeats in their respective semifinals.

Neeraj made the stronger start, taking the opening set after Dhiraj opened with a 7. The top seed responded in emphatic fashion, shooting three 10s to take the next two sets and move 4-2 ahead.

Refusing to surrender, Neeraj delivered three perfect 10s in the fourth set while Dhiraj managed two 9s, allowing his opponent to level the contest at 4-4.

The deciding set remained tight. Dhiraj began with an 8 before following it up with two 10s. Neeraj matched the pressure, shooting 10, 9 and 10 to edge past his senior compatriot and secure the bronze.

Earlier, Dhiraj had lost 3-7 to Paris Olympics bronze medallist Lee Woo Seok of South Korea in the first semifinal, while Neeraj was beaten 1-7 by Japan's Junya Nakanishi. Dhiraj had booked his semifinal spot with a 6-2 win over Uzbekistan's Amirkhon Sadikov in the quarterfinals, prevailing 29-27, 29-27, 28-28, 28-28.

Neeraj, meanwhile, defeated Bhutan's Lam Dorji 7-1 in his quarterfinal, winning 26-20, 27-24, 26-26, 28-27.