What’s the story?
15-year-old Divya Dhayal had a whole nation smiling after she dramatically managed to win two golds and one silver medal in the Asia Archery Cup currently taking place in Chinese Taipei.
She grabbed gold in the women’s individual as well as mixed events, making it a great day for the country. Her win makes it four medals for India at the event with Sunday’s proceedings yet to take place.
In case you didn’t know…
Dhayal had won the bronze medal at the Archery World Cup barely a month ago and is making tremendous strides in the sport. She partnered Abhishek Verma at the Archery World Cup Stage 2 and earned India’s only medal at the event, which was also Dhayal’s first at this level.
She had earlier won the National Archery Championship and secured gold medals in two separate categories as a mere 15-year-old. The champion archer hails from Pune and is a student of the Army Public School.
The heart of the matter
Dhayal defeated Iran’s Fereshteh Ghorbani in the final of the women’s individual event in a battle that went right down to the wire. She was behind by a single point after the first set but took the lead with a strong 29 in the next one. After four sets, the game hung in the balance at 113-113 and with her last three arrows, she produced three perfect shots to score 30 points and win 143-142.
In the mixed event final, it was a relatively easier outing for the Indian team. They led throughout the matchup and closed out the game with a scoreline of 151-147. Partnering Dhayal in this event was Mayank Rawat.
Dhayal missed out on what would have been a glorious hat-trick for the teenager as the team comprising Megha Agarwal, Purvasha Shende and herself lost to the Chinese Taipei team. It was a close battle that ended 228-225 as the Indian side finished three points behind.
What’s next?
A chance for more medals presents itself on Sunday, with the Indian archers taking part in three bronze medal playoffs. They will be egged on by the team’s brilliant performances on Saturday.
Author’s take
Dhayal’s tweet shows her joy and elation and hopefully she can put up even better performances at other world events in the future.
