Neeraj Chauhan wins bronze in men's individual recurve archery
He defeated fellow Indian Dhiraj Bommadevara to secure a podium finish
This is only India's second Asian Games medal in men's individual recurve archery
Neeraj Chauhan's consistency proved to be the difference as he stunned top seed compatriot Dhiraj Bommadevara 6-4 to clinch the men's individual recurve bronze at the Asian Games in Nagoya on Saturday.
In a tense all-Indian duel, Neeraj recovered from a 2-4 deficit to outlast his more fancied opponent, sealing the win with a strong finish in the deciding set.
The victory made Neeraj only the second Indian male after Tarundeep Rai to win an individual recurve medal at the continental event. Rai had won the silver at the 2010 Guangzhou Games.
India thus ended its archery campaign at the top of the standings with nine medals including five golds, two silver and as many bronze.
The two archers had stood together on the podium on Friday after combining to win silver in the men's team event. But their paths crossed after both fell short in the semifinals, leaving them to fight for bronze.
Neeraj made the sharper start, taking the opening set after Dhiraj began with a 7. The top seed responded emphatically, stringing together three 10s to win the next two sets and move 4-2 ahead.
But Neeraj refused to let the contest slip away. He produced three perfect 10s as Dhiraj faltered with two 9s, drawing level at 4-4 and setting up a tense finish.
Dhiraj opened the decider with an 8 before recovering with two 10s. Neeraj, however, held his nerve, shooting 10, 9, 10 to edge out his senior.
Earlier, Dhiraj had gone down 3-7 to Paris Olympics bronze medallist South Korean Lee Woo Seok in the first semifinal, while Neeraj was outplayed 1-7 by Japan's Junya Nakanishi.
Dhiraj had defeated Uzbekistan's Amirkhon Sadikov 6-2 (29-27, 29-27, 28-28, 28-28) in the quarterfinals, while Neeraj advanced to the semifinals with a 7-1 (26-20, 27-24, 26-26, 28-27) win over Bhutan's Lam Dorji.
