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2021 World Archery Championships: Indian women, mixed compound teams reach finals

V Jyothi Surekha featured in both the finals. The women beat World No. 2 Great Britain and hosts USA on way to final and in mixed team category, Indians overcame the likes of Russia and South Korea on way to summit clash.

Compound archer Abhishek Verma (World Archery)

The Indian teams – women and mixed – made it to the finals of compound events of the 2021 Hyundai World Archery Championships in Yankton, the US.

Ranked seventh in the world, the women team comprising V Jyothi Surekha with a world ranking on 13, Priya Gurjar and Muskan Kirar were in roaring form and held their nerves as they stunned hosts USA 226-225 to enter the final and will meet top seeded Columbia who overcame France 234-220 in the other semifinal match.

The mixed team, ranked fifth, of Abhishek and Jyoti shocked Korea’s Kim Yunhee and Kim Jongho 159-156 and will take on second seeds Colombia in the summit clash.

This is the sixth final appearance for Indian archers who have never won the gold medal.

The compound men’s last eight at the 2021 Hyundai World #Archery Championships. 👇

🇫🇷 Jean Philippe Boulch
🇩🇰 Mathias Fullerton
🇲🇽 Miguel Becerra
🇦🇹 Nico Wiener
🇨🇦 Chris Perkins
🇪🇪 Robin Jaatma
🇮🇳 Abhishek Verma
🇳🇱 Mike Schloesser#WorldChampionships pic.twitter.com/3ng7goliCB

— World Archery (@worldarchery) September 23, 2021

Jyothi Surekha, 25 and the trump card of India, has won three medals including one each silver and bronze medals in the previous edition in 2019 Mexico. The Arjuna awardee archer from Vijayawada scored 684 points out of 720 to take the sixth spot in the women’s compound ranking round and top finish will enhance her reputation as she has been recommended for this year’s Khel Ratna, the highest sporting honour in the country, by the Archery Association of India.

However, the men’s compound team who were seeded fifth and comprising Abhishek Verma, Sangam Bisla and Roshab Yadav, lost 235-238 to Austria in the last-eight stage. Abhishek finished seventh with 695 points.

V Jyothi Surekha (World Archery)

In recurve, an Olympic event, Indians fizzled out as their events were held under gutsy conditions with wind crossing 30kmph and finished 16th .

None of the Tokyo Olympians – World No.1 in recurve Deepika Kumari, Atanu Das, Pravin Jadhav and Tarundeep Rai were included in the team as they failed in the trials held in Sonepat, Haryana on the same day (August 4/5) they reached India from Japan.

Indian squads

RECURVE

Women: Komalika Bari and Ridhi Phor and world No. 32 Ankita Bhakat.

Men: Aditya Chaudhary, Atul Verma and Parth Salunke.

COMPOUND

women: Muskan Kirar, Jyothi Surekha Vennam and Priya Gurjar

men: Abhishek Verma, Sangam Singh Bisla and Rishab Yadav

Abhishek in archery’s top panel

Meanwhile, Abhishek, 2014 Incheon Asian Games team gold medallist and three-time World Cup stage gold medallist, has been elected to the prestigious World Archery’s athletes’ commission.

Reigning world archery champion Natalia Avdeeva of Russia and Janine Meissner of Germany were the female candidates. Naomi Folkard, chairman, Sjef van den Berg and Crystal Gauvin are the other members of the commission. Abhishek was the only male candidate and the Indian, ranked ninth in the world, will serve a team of four years.

In World Cup Final, he was won one silver and one bronze while in World Cup stage hes garnered 10 medals including 3 gold in 2015 Wroclaw and 2021 Paris.