Archery World Cup Stage 2: Compound archers Jyothi Surekha Vennam, Ojas Deotale confirm India's first medal

India's compound archery team comprising Jyothi Surekha Vennam and Ojas Deotale confirmed the nation's first medal at the ongoing Archery World Cup Stage 2 at Shanghai on May 19.

Seeded sixth in the ongoing stage of the Archery World Cup, the new-look pair of Jyothi and Deotale ousted Italy 157-157 (19*-19) in a pulsating semifinal and will meet top seeds Korea in the final on May 20.

Although the scores were level at the end, the Indians were awarded the match as their arrows had landed near the centre than the Italians.

If the Indian pair manage to win the gold medal, it would be their second successive gold medal at the Archery World Cup. They won the gold medal after beating Chinese Taipei 159-154 in the Stage 1 of the Archery World Cup, held in Antalya in April.

Indian compound archery pair start well

Indian compound archer Ojas Deotale at the World Cup Stage 1.

The Indian pair started off well by eliminating Bangladesh 158-151 in a lopsided pre-quarterfinal clash, while in the quarterfinals they overcame a strong challenge from Turkey to emerge winners with a score of 157-156.

In the semifinal, it was the Italian pair who held the edge as Elisa Roner and Elia Fregnan had a one-point lead shooting a perfect 40 in the first end.

The Italians once again shot a 40 in the third end to extend their lead by two points (117-119).

However the Indian duo showed remarkable composure to drill in two Xs en route to shooting 40 in the fourth end to force a shoot-off where the Indians sealed the issue with their arrows landing near the centre.

Archery World Cup: Indian recurve archers falter

The Indian recurve archers of Dhiraj Bimmadevara and Simranjeet Kaur did not live up to the expectations as they went down to Indonesia 2-6 in a lopsided opening encounter at the ongoing World Cup.

The Indians, seeded fifth, were all over the place and lost 39-35, 37-39, 37-38, 34-35 in their second round match. They got a bye in the first round by virtue of their rankings and squandered a 2-0 lead against the lower-ranked Indonesians.

The Indians had a chance in the fourth end but they were wayward and shot in the outer seven-point ring to make an early exit.