Asian Archery Championships: India’s Jyothi Surekha Vennam wins compound gold

Fresh
from
winning
three
silver
medals
at
the
Yankton
Worlds
in
September,
Jyothi
defeated
2015
world
champion
Kim
Yunhee
148-143
in
a
lopsided
semifinal,
before
sealing
India’s
first
gold
against
Oh
Yoohyun
with
a
one-point
win
(146-145).

Leading
by
two
points
going
into
the
final
set,
the
world
number
six
Jyothi
shot
one
10
and
hit
the
9-ring
twice,
which
was
enough
to
land
India
the
first
gold
medal
after
the
Korean
hit
the
9-ring
in
a
controversial
decision.

The
entire
Korean
contingent
including
the
coaches
challenged,
believing
it
to
be
a
10,
but
the
judge
ruled
it
a
9,
giving
the
result
in
India’s
favour.

“The
arrow
was
completely
missing
10.
All
Korean
coaches
went
to
the
target
which
is
not
allowed
as
per
rules
to
put
pressure
on
the
judge.
As
per
the
World
Archery
rules,
it
is
a
one
judge
call
and
cannot
be
protested,”
said
an
Indian
coach
in
Dhaka.

Jyothi
started
off
in
a
spectacular
fashion
drilling
in
three
perfect
10s
to
lead
20-29.
But
two
9s
in
the
second
end
meant
that
the
25-year-old
Indian
scored
28,
as
the
experienced
Korean
shot
two
10s
en
route
to
29,
which
levelled
the
scores
58-all.

Showing
great
composure,
the
Andhra
archer
tilted
the
match
in
her
favour
once
again
with
three
10s
from
her
three
arrows
in
the
third
set
to
go
ahead
88-86.

Both
the
archers
shot
a
perfect
third
round
with
scores
of
30
each
and
all
eyes
were
on
the
final
end
with
Jyothi
holding
on
to
her
slender
one-point
advantage.

Needing
a
10
in
the
final
arrow
to
take
the
match
to
shoot-off,
Yoohyun
missed
the
ring
by
millimetres
with
the
judge
ruling
out
the
Korean’s
protest.

It
turned
out
to
be
a
sweet
revenge
for
the
Indian
who
settled
for
a
silver
in
the
mixed
team
event
after
losing
to
the
top
seed
Koreans
by
one
point
to
conclude
her
campaign
with
two
medals.

Jyothi
had
the
company
of
19-year-old
Rishabh
Yadav
in
the
mixed
pair
event.

After
being
locked
38-all
in
the
opening
round,
the
experienced
Korean
duo
of
former
world
champion
Kim
Yunhee
and
Choi
Younghee
stepped
up,
shooting
four
perfect
10s
en
route
to
winning
it
155-154.

This
was
India’s
second
medal
of
the
competition
and
also
for
19-year-old
Yadav
who
had
bagged
a
team
bronze
along
with
former
Asian
Games
gold
medallist
Abhishek
Verma
and
Aman
Saini
on
Wednesday.

Making
his
debut
at
the
Asian
Championships,
Yadav
outshone
his
mentor
Verma
to
be
the
best
among
the
Indians
in
the
individual
ranking
round
and
qualify
for
the
mixed
team
event.

In
a
game
of
small
margins,
the
Indian
pair
managed
just
two
10s
from
their
four
arrows
in
the
second
end.

There
was
an
opportunity
in
the
third
end
when
the
Koreans
shot
two
9s,
as
the
Indian
pair
needed
all
10s
to
square
it
up.

But
they
managed
three
10s
from
their
four
arrows
as
the
Koreans
held
on
to
their
narrow
lead
to
clinch
the
gold.