Jyothi Surekha wins gold, Abhishek wins silver in Asian Archery Championships 

India’s top-ranked compound archer Jyothi Surekha Vennam won the gold medal in the women’s individual compound category at the ongoing Asian Archery Championships in Dhaka on Thursday.

In a nerve-wracking final, Jyothi Surekha defeated top seed and former world champion Oh Yoohyun 146-145.

This is Jyothi Surekha’s second Asian championship individual gold medal.

Later, Abhishek Verma won a silver medal in the men’s individual compound archery category. The 32-year-old lost to South Korea’s Kim Jong-ho 148-149 in the final.

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Jyothi Surekha started well, scoring 30 with the first set of three arrows, compared to the Korean’s 29. However, a wobble in the second set with a score of 28 meant that Oh Yoohyun equalized at 58-58.

Jyothi Surekha then upped the ante in the third set, scoring a perfect 30 again, while Yoohyun managed only 28, handing the Indian a two-point lead.

The fourth set was evenly matched with both archers scoring 30 each and Jyothi Surekha’s two-point lead remained intact.

However, Jyothi Surekha wasn’t able to hold her nerve in the final set, scoring two 9s. Fortunately, a controversial final arrow from Oh Yoohyun handed Jyothi Surekha her first gold medal of this edition of the Asian Archery Championships.

Jyothi Surekha, Abhishek win silver in mixed team

Earlier in the day, the Indian compound mixed team of Rishabh Yadav and Jyothi Surekha settled for a silver medal. The Korean pair of Kim Yunhee and Choi Yonghee defeated the Indians by a narrow margin of 155-154 in the final.

Later, Abhishek won a silver medal as he went down to Korea’s Jong-ho in the final of the compound category. This is Abhishek’s third medal at the Asian Archery Championship after winning the bronze medal in the men’s team event and silver medal in the mixed team event, partnering Jyothi Surekha.

The men’s individual final went down to the wire as both archers kept on fighting until the last minute.

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