Indian women archers book 3 Olympic berths by defeating Russia

Leipzig, July 13 (UNI) Indian women hit the bull's eye at the World Outdoor Archery Championship here today as they upset Russia in the Team Recurve pre-quarter-finals to book three berths for next year's Beijing Olympics.

The men, however, were unfortunate as they went down to Italy on shoot-off after tying 212-212 in the Men's Recurve pre-quarter-finals.

Putting behind their disappointment in the individual elimination round yesterday, the Indian trio of Dola Banerjee, Bombayla Devi and Chekrovolu Swuro were bang on target today and scored 206 as against 198 by the fifth seeded Russian women to ensure themselves of an Olympic ticket.

The Indian women, later, lost to Britain in the quarter-finals.

Earlier in the Team Compound event, the trio came close for an Olympic qualification but lost out to France in the pre-quarter-finals.

There are 40 Olympic berths on offer at the World Championships, which end on Sunday, and with the top eight teams taking up a total of 24 berths, only 16 remain in the individual event for those who have not already qualified.

UNI