Indian compound archers won every team medal available at the Asian Games in Hangzhou. First, the 2023 World Champions Jyothi Surekha Vennam, Aditi Gopichand Swami, and Parneet Kaur fired a difficult 230 out of 240 against Chinese Taipei in the compound women’s team final. They required every one of those 230 points because their opponents only managed 229 shots.
Then, in the men’s team final matchup against longtime rivals South Korea, came Abhishek Verma, Prathamesh Samadhan Jawkar, and Ojas Pravin Deotale. With a score of 235, they defeated the gold medalists from 2018 by a margin of five points.
The women, who were strong favorites based on form and lineage, had to endure a considerably more nerve-wracking struggle, but in the end, when pressure was building and there was only one arrow left and the scores were almost even, they each shot a 10.
When Prathamesh shot an 8 in the second round of arrows, the men’s morale suffered. However, his teammates arrived right away to support them. In the end, they came back and won with a respectable margin.
They kept their attention on the objective while simultaneously making sure to support one another in the midst of the fight. encouraging their teammates and giving their Italian coach Sergio Pagni high fives. “Our great secret is this. He is a game-changer, according to Abhishek of the former World No. 1.
Parneet Kaur, 18, adds, “We didn’t concentrate on the competitors’ shots; we just did our best.”
The unflappable combo of Jyothi and Ojas, who had already won the mixed team gold, took the lead on the route to winning the two team gold medals.
They took over when their teammates struggled and shot the uncommon 9s. In their finals, they each shot seven 10s out of ten arrows.
Because of the wind, Jyothi explains, “we had to remain calm and concentrate on shooting our best even in the worst circumstances, regardless of what the opponents were shooting.”
Ojas explains, “Our coach tells us not to focus on the team you are fighting, instead just focus on ourselves, follow our rhythm and the results will be in our hands,” adding that Abhishek was continuously directing them from behind. And that without him, they would not have succeeded.
India has already won all three of the three gold medals that have been up for grabs in compound archery in Hangzhou thus far, thanks to some outstanding shooting on Thursday.
With Abhishek and Ojas competing against one another in the men’s individual event, which the former promises would be a “friendly final,” they are assured of winning more since they came for the gold and they got it. If Jyothi can prevail in her final, India may very well complete the clean sweep as well.
The compound archers from India had an outstanding international season and entered the Asian Games determined to show their mettle. One shot at a time, they have succeeded in doing so.
