Jyothi Surekha Vennam is on her way to win a hat-trick of medals as India secured two podium finishes at the Archery World Cup Stage 4 here on Saturday with the women’s compound team winning a silver and the mixed team settling for a bronze.
However, despite the medal-winning performance, the tournament exposed Indian archers’ limitations in crunch situations under pressure. Jyothi, Parneet Kaur and 16-year-old debutant Prithika Pradeep, who had topped the qualification round with 2,116 points, looked on course for gold and justify their top-billing when they led 170-169 after the third end. However, they faltered under pressure at the decisive moment and lost 225-227 to Chinese Taipei.
Later, in the mixed team event, the top-seeded Indian pair of Jyothi and Rishabh Yadav, who had broken the qualifying world record with a total of 1,431 points on the opening day, outplayed 10th-seeded El Salvador duo of Paola Corado and Douglas Vladimir Nolasco 156-153 to win the bronze. The two, however, fell short of expectations in the semifinals on Friday, losing to 12th-seeded Netherlands 152-155.
In the women’s compound team event, both teams were tied at 57-all after the first end, but the Indians raised their game in the second, dropping just two points to take the end 58-56 and open up a slender 115-113 lead. They still held a narrow advantage despite losing the third end by a point (55-56) after an untimely arrow found the 8-ring.
The gold was well within reach, but the Indians simply could not close it out in the fourth and final end. A wayward 7 in the final-end proved costly, while Chinese Taipei’s trio of Huang I-Jou, Chen Yi-Hsuan and Chiu Yu-Erh held their composure to shoot a match-winning 58. The Indians, in contrast, could muster only 55 -- a subpar effort at a stage where consistency and nerves matter most.
The defeat once again exposed the team's weakness in tight finishes and brought focus on the void left in the game since the departure of reputed compound coach Sergio Pagni after the 2022 Asian Games.
In the bronze playoff, the scores were tied 39-39 after the first end, but Jyothi and Rishabh went ahead by two points after the second and maintained their lead till the end to win the contest. India remain in contention for more medals in the compound section with Jyothi and Parneet Kaur slated to compete in their individual semifinals later in the day.
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