India, July 13 -- India's recurve mixed pair of Dhiraj Bommadevara and Kirti Sharma squandered a promising 3-1 lead to miss out on the bronze medal, losing 3-5 to Italy at the Archery World Cup Stage 4, here on Sunday.

For Dhiraj, the Antalya World Cup champion, it was a disappointing end to the campaign as he returned empty-handed from Madrid despite having won the recurve mixed team gold with Kumkum Mohod at the third stage last month.

With the defeat, India's hopes in the recurve section now rest solely on Kirti, who will compete in the individual semifinals later on Sunday. A victory there would clinch the 19-year-old her maiden World Cup medal. Kirti made her World Cup debut last month in Antalya. India have so far secured two meda...