Asian Games 2023: India's second gold in archery also assured the country of at least five medals in archery at the ongoing Asian Games
Indian men's compound archers (Pic: @ianuragthakur/X)
The women's combine emerged triumphant in an edge-of-the-seat thriller while the men's outfit secured the top prize without fuss as Indian compound archers swept all three gold medals on offer in team events, further bettering their best-ever medal haul at the Asian Games 2023 on Thursday.
The women's compound team edged Chinese Taipei by the thinnest of margins, securing the gold medal win by just one point with Jyothi Surekha Vennam, Aditi Swami and Parneet Kaur shooting 60 out of 60 in the final round of a heart-stopping final.
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Having knocked out two-time defending champions South Korea, the Chinese Taipei trio of Chen Yi-Hsuan, Huang I-Jou and Wang Lu-Yun fought till the end but the top-seeded Indian team won 230-229.
The scores were locked 200-200 till the last set but the young Indian team that has two teenagers -- Aditi and Parneet -- remained ice-cool to find three more 10s in the final three arrows.
It put the pressure back on their opponents who were to shoot last and needed to match with three 10s to force a shootoff. But Chinese Taipei started off with a nine that sealed the gold for India.
Having conquered the world less than two months back, it also completed India women's compound team's domination by becoming the Asian champions.
In the afternoon session, the men's trio of Abhishek Verma, Ojas Deotale and Prathamesh Jawkar downed South Koreans 235-230 to seal their sixth medal in archery.
India's second gold in archery also assured the country of at least five medals in archery at the ongoing Asian Games.
India's mixed team had won a gold on Wednesday.
For 27-year-old Jyothi this was also a double gold from this edition, having secured the top spot in the podium with Ojas Deotale in the compound mixed team event on Wednesday.
The Vijaywada archer is in line for a hat-trick of gold as she will fight for the Asian Games title, taking on South Korea's So Chaewon in the compound individual final on Saturday.
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India have confirmed at least five medals in archery at the continental showpiece as Deotale and Abhishek Verma are assured of a top-two finish by making it an all-India men's compound individual final.
India's previous best show in archery at the Asian Games was in Incheon 2014 where they had claimed one gold, one silver and one bronze.
In the final, India had a one-point lead after three arrows but Parneet slipped into the red ring with an 8 in the second set of arrows, while Aditi and Jyothi also dropped a point each to trail 54-56 after first end.
Chinese Taipei trio stepped up with three 10s to race to a 86-82 lead after nine-arrow each but Parneet started off with a 10 as they made it all perfect socres while their rivals stumbled with a seven to concede a one-point lead.
Both teams went neck-and-neck in the fourth end that saw 171-all, and the stalemate prevailed in first set of arrows in the decider before their final flourish with three 10s nailed it.
The Indian women's team began the day pocketing an 11-point win over Hong Kong (231-220) and in the semifinal they were even better, crushing Indonesia by 14 points.
The compound men's team of Ojas Deotale, Prathamesh Jawkar and Abhishek Verma, who are seeded second, followed the suit of the women's trio to storm into the final with two lopsided wins.
(With agency inputs)
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