Archery World Cup: Indian women compound archers strike gold

The Indian trio of Jyothi Surekha Vennam, Parneet Kaur and Aditi Swami grabbed their third successive Archery World Cup gold medal, beating Turkey on Saturday, 25 May. The Indian trio of Jyothi Surekha Vennam, Parneet Kaur and Aditi Swami grabbed their third successive Archery World Cup gold medal, beating Turkey 232-226 in a lopsided compound women’s team final at the stage two event in South Korea.

The world number one Indian compound women’s team dominated Turkey’s Hazal Burun, Ayse Bera Suzer and Begum Yuva right from the first end and sealed the gold without dropping a set, with a healthy six-point margin.

For Jyothi, Parneet and world champion Aditi this completed a hat-trick of World Cup gold medals together.

They had won the season opening World Cup Stage 1 in Shanghai, downing Italy and also ended last year with a gold at the stage four of the event in Paris.

India will be eyeing a second gold of the competition when Jyothi and Priyansh take on the USA in the compound mixed team final later in the day.

Indian Archers Shines in World Cup

Earlier, the Indian men’s recurve team scored a historic victory at the Archery World Cup, defeating reigning champions South Korea. This victory marks their first triumph over South Korea in a World Cup final, boosting their prospects for the upcoming Paris Olympics.

The Indian men’s recurve team of Dhiraj Bommadevara, Tarundeep Rai and Pravin Jadhav shocked reigning Olympic champions South Korea in a historic win to land an Archery World Cup gold medal after 14 years.

The trio of Dhiraj, Tarundeep and Pravin showed ice-cool composure to get the better of the mighty Koreans without dropping a set. The 40-year-old Army man Tarundeep was also a part of the gold medal-winning team in Shanghai World Cup Stage 4 in August 2010. Then the recurve team comprising Rahul Banerjee, Tarundeep and Jayanta defeated Japan.

In a battle between the top two seeds of the competition, India won 5-1 (57-57, 57-55, 55-53), taking their gold medal count to five in the season-opening Stage 1 World Cup. The success also rubbed on the mixed team of Ankita Bhakat and Dhiraj who trounced Alejandra Valencia and Matias Grande of Mexico 6-0 (35-31, 38-35, 39-37) to win bronze. Overall, India has five gold, one silver and a bronze so far, while former world No. 1 Deepika Kumari is in the hunt for another medal, playing her women’s recurve individual semifinal later in the day. In the men’s team final, India was up against its nemesis South Korea, who featured two members of the Tokyo Olympics gold medal-winning team in Kim Woojin and Kim Je Deok. Lee Woo Seok was the third member.