World Archery Championships: Wait for gold continues as India end campaign with three silver medals

Yankton (USA): Indian archer Jyothi Surekha Vennam lost a nerve-wracking final to Colombian heavyweight Sara Lopez to clinch a silver in the compound women’s individual section at the World Championships here on Saturday. The 25-year-old Indian was at her best and shot a perfect final end but the five-time World Cup champion Sara was superior to clinch the issue by two points (146-144). For Jyothi, this was her second silver medal at the World Championships as she became the only Indian archer to have four podium finishes at the showpiece biennial competition. Jyothi had bagged a silver (Mexico 2017) and a bronze (Den Bosch 2019) in the team events at the previous World Championships.

NEWS. Jyothi Surekha Vennam collects third silver of world championships 🥈🥈🥈https://t.co/ePkli3WkGn #WorldChampionships #archery pic.twitter.com/rEMamY21r7

— World Archery (@worldarchery) September 26, 2021

Earlier on Friday, Jyothi was a member of the Indian women’s and mixed pair compound archery teams which signed off with silver medals after lopsided losses to Colombia here. India were in pursuit of their first-ever gold medal at the world event. For a country that doesn’t have a gold yet, India have climbed the most podiums at the event - 11 -, appearing in nine finals and leaving with a silver each time. Jyothi dished out a consistent display shooting 28, 29, and 29 in her first three ends, but the Colombian top seed opened up a two-point lead at the halfway mark, drilling in seven perfect 10s with two X (closest to the centre) from nine arrows. The sixth-seeded Indian shot three 10s from three arrows in the final end but that was not enough as Sara wrapped up the gold medal match by two points. Jyothi, however, upgraded the bronze medal she had won two years ago, as the Andhra archer concluded her campaign with three silver medals. The star Indian mixed pair duo of Abhishek Verma and Jyothi, who stood fourth in the ranking round, started off with a one-point lead but thereafter it was a story of Colombian dominance. The Indians went down by a four-point margin (150-154) . The seventh-seeded women’s team of Jyothi, Muskan Kirar, and Priya Gurjar, on the other hand, lost by a margin of five points (224-229) against the troika of Sara Lopez, Alejandra Usquiano, and Nora Valdez.

Indian Compound Women team of @VJSurekha @kirar_muskan and #PriyaGurjar 🏹🎯 wins 🥈 at the World Archery Championships 2021, Yankton USA

Great effort by the team👏👏#IndianSports#ArcheryWorldChampionships pic.twitter.com/IBKUhP2OM1

— SAI Media (@Media_SAI) September 25, 2021

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The Colombians, who topped the rankings, drilled in 15 perfect 10s with five Xs. Locked 58-58 after the opening end, the Indian women’s team failed to snatch a lead shooting twice in the red circle as their opponents gained a one-point advantage. There was no stopping the Colombians thereafter as they shot eight 10s from 12 arrows in the last two ends to win their third women’s title, and first since 2017. In the mixed pair event, India had a poor second end where they shot two 9s and one 8 to squander a one-point lead and lose the match by four points. The duo of Daniel Munoz and Sara, who stood second in the rankings, consolidated after the first end and shot a perfect 40/40 in the third end to win their first-ever mixed gold medal. Overall, the Colombian pair shot 10 perfect 10s from 16 arrows while the Indians were no match with just eight 10s. For Colombia, it reasserted their supremacy in compound archery taking their all-time gold medal count at the World Championships to four. India are also in contention for one more medal in the individual compound event with Verma slated to compete in their respective quarter-finals later on Saturday. Ankita Bhakat is the lone archer in the fray in the recurve competition and she will compete in her last-eight match on Sunday.