Archery World Championships: Abhishek Verma, Jyothi Surekha in final of mixed team event

India's mixed compound archery team of Jyothi Surekha Vennam and Abhishek Verma reached the final at the Archery World Championships in Yankton, USA. They beat Korea’s Kim Yunhee and Kim Jong-ho 159-156 in a pulsating semifinal.

Jyothi Surekha and Abhishek will run into the Colombian pair of Sara Lopez and Daniel Munoz in the final. This will be the second India vs Colombia final at the Archery World Championships. The Indian compound team will also meet Colombia in the summit clash.

This ensures two medals for India at the ongoing World Championships, with the recurve men, women and teams yet to begin their campaign.

It also puts archer Jyothi Surekha on a pedestal in compound archery, assuring herself of two medals. The young compound archer won two bronze medals in the 2019 edition. However, Jyothi Surekha has improved on that performance as she is guaranteed to win two silver medals in this edition of the World Championships.

The Indian mixed team started well, beating the Russian Archery Federation 157-150 in the second round before running into the Netherlands in the quarter-finals. The Indians were challenged by the Dutch pair but the Indians eventually prevailed 157-155 to advance into the semifinals.

Indian archery team at clinical best

Running into Korea, one of the best teams, the Indian pair had their task cut out from the start.

The Indian pair started well, opening up a one-point lead with a perfect score of 40 on four arrows in the first set. Korea, however, equalized soon after when they scored 40 in the second with India scoring 39, courtesy a nine-pointer in the first arrow.

The Indian pair of Jyothi Surekha and Abhishek traded the scoreline in the third by upping the ante. India opened up a slender one-point lead again at the end of the third set, scoring 40, while the Korean pair managed 39.

Two nine-pointers in the fourth and deciding set did Korea in as they managed to score 38. A clinical India left nothing to chance as they scored another perfect 40 to triumph 159-156.