New Delhi, May 25 (IANS): Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur on Tuesday felicitated the Indian archery team, which returned home with five medals, including a compound team gold, from the World Cup 2022 Stage 2 held in Gwangju (South Korea) recently.

The men's compound team of Abhishek Verma, Rajat Chauhan and Aman Saini defeated France to win gold, while India also won silver and three bronze in the prestigious tournament. Mohan Bhardwaj won individual silver in men's compound.

Lauding the archer's efforts, Thakur said, "They have worked so hard to win these medals, I am sure we can clap hard to show them how much this win means to the country. We must make it our habit to show our appreciation for our athletes, because they are doing it for the country."

Sharing their experience from the tournament, Abhishek Verma said, "We were preparing for the Asian Games so the team is in a great form now. There has been a significant improvement in India archery in terms of accuracy and technical aspects. With the all-round support in terms of infrastructure, coaching, exposure, camps from the federation and the government, we are being able to achieve so much.

"Going forward this momentum will continue and in June, as we go in for the next stage of the World Cup we will come back with more medals," he added.