China wins men's recurve team gold at archery World Cup

ISTANBUL -- China edged past India 5-4 in an intense men's recurve team final to claim the gold medal, as Chinese archers returned to World Cup competitions for the first time since 2019.

China's team, comprising Li Zhongyuan, Wei Shaoxuan and Qi Xiangshuo, finished second in the qualification after hosts Turkey and eliminated Mexico, Bangladesh and Slovenia on the way to the final, where they started strong with a 4-0 lead.

However, the Indian archers of Atanu Das, Dhiraj Bommadevara, Tarundeep Rai fought back in the next two sets, edging China by one point each and forcing a shoot-off.

It was Li's opening X that clinched the gold medal for China as both teams tied on 28 points.

"It was a very tough match, but we finally won it," said Wei, who was part of the team that won China's first-ever men's recurve team gold at the 2019 World Championships.

"We didn't take part in international competitions for three years and we won here. It's great."

Their female counterparts Zhang Mengyao, An Qixuan and Hai Ligan suffered a 6-0 defeat to Mexico in the women's team final, but a silver was good enough for a long-waited return.

The mixed team gold went to the United States, who beat Chinese Taipei 5-4 in the final.

In the individual competitions, Britain's 18-year-old Penny Healey won her maiden World Cup gold after sweeping Germany's Elina Idensen 6-0. China's An beat the Netherlands' Laura van der Winkel 7-3 for a bronze medal.

The men's gold went to Dan Olaru of Moldova, who beat France's Jean-Charles Valladont 5-3. Bommadevara defeated Ilfat Abdullin of Kazakhstan 7-3 in the bronze medal match.

The next World Cup competitions will be held in Shanghai, China, from May 16 to 21.