The Indian trio of Deepika Kumari, Ankita Bhakat and teenager Kumkum Mohod held their nerve in a tense shoot-off to beat home favourites China and clinch the women's recurve team gold medal at the Archery World Cup Stage 2 in Shanghai on Sunday.

In a final marked by fluctuating fortunes, India edged out the home side 5-4 (28-26) in the shoot-off after the four-set regulation ended 4-4.

There was, however, heartbreak for Simranjeet Kaur who lost to World No. 1 and eventual champion Kang Chaeyoung of South Korea in straight sets in the semi-final, before going down to another Korean, Jang Minhee, in the playoff for the bronze medal.

India thus ended their campaign with two medals. One gold and a bronze that came through Sahil Jadhav in the men's individual compound section on Saturday.

Led by Deepika, India were inconsistent and almost let it slip after taking the first set.

Trailing 2-4, India were on the verge of defeat but the relatively inexperienced Chinese side, comprising two 21-year-olds in Zhu Jingyi, Huang Yuwei and teenager Yu Qi failed to wrap it up in the fourth set.

Needing a nine in the final arrow, the 18-year-old Yu Qi slipped to 8-ring, giving Indians a lucky escape as the trio peaked well to win the ensuing shoot-off by two points.

The 17-year-old Kumkum shot a splendid 10, after Ankita started with a 9, while Deepika calmed her nerves to seal the gold with a 9 in the final arrow of the shoot-off.

The victory was especially sweet, as India had earlier stunned the record 10-time Olympic champions, South Korea, in the semi-finals en route to their first World Cup women's team gold since 2021.

Deepika now has seven World Cup team gold medals to her name since 2010.

It was also the Indian women's recurve team's first World Cup medal in three years, its previous podium finish coming in Stage 4 in Paris in 2023, where Ankita was a member of the winning team.

Travelling without a full-time national coach amid the impasse over appointments, it was the vastly experienced Deepika who led from the front, constantly motivating her teammates during breaks and changeovers.

Prafull Dange, who was the designated women's recurve coach, largely remained in the background as Deepika guided the side through the pressure moments.