Yankton: The Indian compound archery trio of Ankita Bhakat, Abhishek Verma, and Jyothi Surekha Vennam advanced to the quarterfinals of their events at the World Championships in Yankton, US, on Thursday keeping their medal chances alive.
Bhakat won the Korean heavyweight 6-4 (29-28, 28-28, 27-27, 24-29, 29-28) and advanced to the quarterfinals against Casey Kaufhold of the United States later in the day.
Bhakat got off to a flying start, scoring two 10s on her way to a 29 out of 30 scores, putting early pressure on the reigning Olympic team winner. While Verma, the reigning World Cup champion, won two immaculate rounds in his 145-142 victory over Slovakia’s Jozef Bosansky (29-28, 30-27, 28-29, 30-29, 28-29) at his respective round.
Surekha also ended a great outing by showing Chaewon So of Korea the door, 146-142. (30-29, 29-29, 28-30, 29-29, 26-29).
Jyothi took a 117-116 lead into the last set of arrows after trailing 59-58 after the first two series. He drilled five perfect 10s in a row, including one X (arrow closest to the center). Under stress, the Korean fumbled and shot an 8, while Jyothi sealed the deal with two 10s and an X.
On the other hand, India had already secured two medals as the archers reached the compound women’s and mixed finals that will take place on Saturday morning.
As the Indian women’s compound archery team advanced to the final by defeating the hosts USA 226-225, Wednesday, however, the men’s team was eliminated in the World Championship’s last eight stage. Verma and Surekha, the mixed pair, also advanced to the final, defeating Korea’s Kim Yunhee and Kim Jongho 159-156.
Priya Gurjar, Muskan Kirar, and Jyothi Surekha, the seventh-seeded women’s team, held their nerves in a tight struggle with Linda Ochoa-Anderson, Paige Pearce, and Makenna Proctor on Wednesday.
However, the men’s team, led by Abhishek Verma, was defeated by Austria in the quarter-finals 235-238.
