Indian archer Prathamesh Jawkar signs off with silver at World Cup Final; Verma, Aditi, Jyothi falter

Indian compound archer Prathamesh Jawkars dream run in his maiden World Cup Final ended with a silver medal after he lost to Denmarks Mathias Fullerton by the narrowest of margins in an intense shootoff finishShanghai World Cup winner Jawkar who stunned the world No 1 and reigning champion Mike Schloesser for a second time in four months to storm into the final lost 148148 1010 to Fullerton who was adjudged the winner by virtue of his arrow being closer to the centreThe Denmark archer took an early lead after the Indian 20yearold dropped one point in the opening round of their final clash here late on SaturdayTrailing 8990 at the midway mark Jawkar brought the final on an even keel when he shot 30 points out of a possible 30 to make it 119all going into the last roundAlso ReadUS Open Anna Danilina and Harri Heliovaara win mixed doubles titleBut in the designated final end both the archers shot identical scores of 29 each to take it to shootoffThe tiebreaker also saw a stalemate as the Indian missed Fullertons arrow by narrowest of marginsIn the semifinal the Maharashtra archer dished out a flawless shooting of 150 out of a possible 150 points to pip Schloesser by one point 150149The win also denied the Dutchman a hattrick of World Cup Final titles Schloesser is a winner of four World Cup Final 2016 2019 2021 and 2022It was Jawkars second win over the Mr Perfectionist in four months At the final of the Shanghai World Cup in May Jawakar had prevailed over the Dutch heavyweight 149148Schloesser however managed to bring his Agame in the bronze medal playoff when he denied India a second medal defeating veteran Abhishek Verma 150149Verma was eyeing a second World Cup Final bronze when he made his way through to the thirdplace playoff defeating Sawyer Sullivan of the USA 146146 109 in the quarterfinalsIn the semifinal Verma lost to eventual champion Fullerton 147150Jawkar started off in an ominous fashion when he dropped just one point to eliminate host nation representative Miguel Becerra 149141 in the quarterfinal Its only in the penultimate round that the Indian missed the centre once from 15 arrows in an otherwise perfect displayThe win set up Jawkars semifinal clash against the Dutch superstar Schloesser for a second time in four monthsWomen compound archers disappointIndia however disappointed in the womens compound section with the duo of Aditi Swami and Jyothi Surekha Vennam returning emptyhanded after losing their respective opening round matchesWorld Cup stage winner Jyothi Surekha Vennam failed to cross the opening round hurdle going down to Colombian heavyweight and eventual champion Sara Lopez by a fivepoint margin in a lopsided quarterfinalJyothi dropped two points in the first end to trail by two points against Sara who had a perfect 30 out of 30 score Jyothi recovered in the second end and at the halfway mark had a onepoint deficit 8889But a dismal fourth end where the Indian managed 27 999 proved costly as Sara wrapped the issue 149144 before sealing a hattrick of World Cup Final title Overall Sara has seven World Cup Final titles in her kittyAll eyes were on reigning world champion Aditi Swami but the 17yearold cracked under pressure to go down to eventual runnerup Tanja Gellenthien of Denmark 145145 910 in a shootoff finishDespite shooting belowpar Aditi managed to keep a slender onepoint lead till the penultimate end But in the final round Tanja levelled it with a perfect 30 as Aditi dropped one point to force a shootoff where the Denmark archer sealed it with a perfect 10India will have a lone representative in the recurve section where Dhiraj Bommadevara is pitted against Korean heavyweight Kim Woojin in a tough opening round clashNo Indian could make it in the womens recurve sectionThis is the first time five Indian archers have qualified for the yearender world showpieceThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever