Indian Women’s Compound Archery Team Clinches Third Consecutive World Cup Gold
Yecheon, South Korea: The Indian women’s compound archery team, consisting of Jyothi Surekha Vennam, Parneet Kaur, and Aditi Swami, secured its third consecutive Archery World Cup gold medal at the Stage Two event on Saturday, May 25. Additionally, the mixed team earned a silver medal.
The world number one Indian compound team displayed dominance from the outset against Turkey’s Hazal Burun, Ayse Bera Suzer, and Begum Yuva, winning the final match with a six-point margin (232-226) without dropping a set.
For Jyothi, Parneet, and world champion Aditi, this victory marked their third World Cup gold together, following their triumphs at the season-opening World Cup Stage 1 in Shanghai last month and Stage 4 in Paris last year.
“It’s unbelievable. We are consistent in our performance, but during the matches, we just focus on shooting our best so that we can get a medal for our team,” said Aditi about their sustained success.
However, Asian Games champion Jyothi missed out on a second gold as she, along with Priyansh, fell to the USA’s Olivia Dean and Sawyer Sullivan by two points (155-153) in the compound mixed team final, despite an initial lead.
In the women’s team final, the second-seeded Indians began with three Xs and dropped only one point each in the next three arrows, edging out their fifth-seeded rivals by one point in the first round. In the subsequent round of six arrows, the Indians showcased their supremacy by hitting five perfect 10s and one 9, extending their lead by four points at the halfway mark. Although Turkey matched India’s score in the penultimate round, the Indians maintained a four-point lead going into the final end and sealed the victory with another score of 58, highlighted by three 10s and one X.
“I was just thinking to shoot my best. I wanted to give my best even for the last arrow,” said Jyothi.
“We are feeling really great that we won the team gold medal here. The weather was a bit windy, but we managed to shoot our best,” Parneet added.
In the compound mixed team final, the USA demonstrated their prowess by making a strong comeback. Jyothi and Priyansh initially led with 39 points out of 40, but struggled with consistency as Olivia and Sullivan leveled the score (76-all) at the halfway mark and eventually took a one-point lead. The Indians needed a perfect score in the final end to force a shoot-off but managed only 38, allowing the USA to secure the gold.
In the compound men’s individual category, Indian archer Prathamesh Fuge narrowly missed out on a bronze medal. He lost to world number one Mike Schloesser of the Netherlands in a shoot-off after tying the score at 148-all. Schloesser sealed the victory with a 10 in the tiebreaker. Earlier, Fuge had defeated world number six Nico Wiener of Austria in the quarterfinals but lost to world number seven James Lutz of the USA in the semifinals.
The Indian archery team’s performance at the World Cup Stage Two event highlights their growing prowess and determination on the global stage.
