Ankita Bhakat capped a standout day on Friday at the Asian Archery Championship, stunning Paris Olympics silver-medallist Nam Suhyeon of South Korea 7-3, while Dhiraj Bommadevara sealed a composed 6-2 win in his final as India secured gold medals in both the women’s and men’s recurve events on Friday.
Dhiraj defeated compatriot Rahul 6-2, ensuring a 1-2 finish for India in the men’s final.
Earlier, Ankita had edged past her senior teammate and former world No. 1 Deepika Kumari in a tense semifinal. Locked 5-5, both shot nines in the shoot-off, but Ankita’s arrow landed closer to the centre, sending her into the gold-medal clash.
She opened the final with authority, firing two 10s to take the first set 29-27. The next set proved scrappy, ending 27-27, with Ankita slipping to an 8 and Nam faltering to a 7. The Korean levelled the contest by winning the third set 28-26, as Ankita failed to find a single 10.
Also read: Women recurve archers lose to Korea in bronze medal playoff
Ankita responded with a superb 29-28 in the fourth set, regaining a 5-3 lead after landing two more 10s. She held her nerve in the decider, again producing two 10s to clinch a breakthrough victory over one of Asia’s most consistent archers.
India also secured the women’s recurve bronze, with Sangeeta defeating five-time Olympian Deepika Kumari 6-5 in another dramatic shoot-off.
The Indian contingent finished its campaign with 10 medals, six gold, three silver and one bronze, to top the overall standings.
In the men’s event, after dropping the first set by a point, Dhiraj produced a near-flawless fightback to outclass 33-year-old veteran Jang Chaehwan 6-2. He hit three 10s in the second set to draw level at 2-2, then continued his commanding rhythm with two 10s and a 9 to take the third set 29-27. A final hat-trick of 10s sealed the win, completing India’s sweep in the recurve individual finals.
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