Shanghai: The Indian Asian Games and Asian Archery Championships gold medalist, Jyothi Surekha Vennam, is on a remarkable streak at the ongoing Archery World Cup in Shanghai, clinching her third gold medal, this time in the singles compound competition. India kicked off their campaign in the Archery World Cup with a bang, securing four gold medals in the compound archery category on Saturday. T
Alongside the victories in the men’s and women’s team events, the mixed team competition also contributed to India’s impressive medal tally.
Taking to X (formerly Twitter), the Sports Authority of India (SAI) Media wrote, “@VJSurekha reigns supreme for Team India! She wins her third gold at the #ArcheryWorldCup Stage 1 in Shanghai! The archer defeats Mexico’s Andrea Becerra in a tie-breaker after the scores were tied 146-146 to win India’s fourth gold medal of the competition! #IndianArchery.”
Archer Priyansh also beat Nick Kappers of the USA by 147-146 in the finals to secure a final spot for India. First, it was the women’s compound archery team consisting of Jyothi Surekha, Aditi Goswami and Parneet that made the country proud with a gold medal by beating Italy 236-226 in a tightly-contested match for the top prize.
India secured its second medal in the compound division as the men’s team, comprising Abhishek Verma, Prathmesh Fuge, and Priyansh, clinched victory against the Netherlands with a score of 238-231.
India’s dominance in the compound division was cemented with a hat-trick of wins as the mixed team duo of Abhishek Verma and Jyothi Surekha secured a thrilling gold medal victory against Estonia. In a nail-biting clash, India emerged triumphant by just one point, with a final score of 158-157.
Team India continued its domination in the compound category as Deepika Kumari handed a 120-119 loss to Estonia’s Meeri-Marita Paas in the semifinals, moving to the finals.
The Indian men’s recurve archery team of Tarundeep Rai, Dhiraj Bommadevara and Pravin Jadhav secured a berth in the finals at the ongoing Archery World Cup in Shanghai on Thursday. They beat Italy 5-1 to set up a title clash with South Korea, which is scheduled for Sunday.
The Archery Association of India (AAI) has announced that the Indian team has improved its world ranking, which bodes well for their qualification chances for the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympics. However, in their opening clash, the Indian women’s recurve trio of Deepika Kumari, Ankita Bhakat, and Bhajan Kaur faced a 3-1 defeat against Mexico. The Archery World Cup’s first stage is scheduled to take place from April 23 to 28 in Shanghai, followed by the second leg hosted by South Korea from May 21 to 26.
Based on the performances in the first two stages of the WC, the team for the third stage, taking place from June 18 to 23, in Antalya will be selected. The third stage of the World Cup will be the final qualification event for recurve archers ahead of the Olympics, taking place from July to August this year.
