Puebla (Mexico), April 11 The Indian women's compound trio of Jyothi Surekha Vennam, Madhura Dhamangaonkar, and Pragati edged out the USA 233-232 to win the gold medal at the Archery World Cup Stage 1 here on Saturday.
This medal, India's first in the season-opening event, was a welcome surprise as none of the recurve and men's compound archers could achieve a top finish and returned empty-handed.
India now has another medal in sight, with Ojas Deotale and Pragati set to compete for the mixed team bronze later in the day.
This was a harsh reality check for the Indians, especially as it comes at a crucial time leading up to the Asian Games later this year, as none of the recurve participants – including former Olympians Tarundeep Rai, Atanu Das, Dhiraj Bommadevara, and Deepika Kumari – could advance to the medal rounds.
Even the pre-quarterfinal rounds were disappointing, with Das and Dhiraj only reaching that stage before being eliminated by their respective opponents.
As a team, the men's recurve team, which qualified as the 10th seed, lost in the first round, losing to Spain in straight sets.
The women's recurve team also faced an early setback, losing in the quarterfinals against Turkey.
In the women's individual recurve section, Deepika, India's most decorated archer, lost in the second round, while Ankita Bhakat, Simranjeet Kaur, and Kumkum Mohod advanced one round further before exiting in the third round.
Dhiraj and Kumkum, who had qualified as India's mixed team, also had a disastrous outing, losing to Brazil in the opening round.
The women's team gold medal clash was a close battle.
India conceded their lead in the first round and trailed in the second (114-117) and third ends (173-174). However, the trio held their nerve, producing six perfect arrows in the final end to edge out the USA by a solitary point.
The Indian trio had started strongly, dropping just one point in the opening end for a score of 59, while their USA opponents (Alexis Ruiz, Paige Pearce, and Olivia Dean) managed 58. However, India slipped to just one point in the second end, returning 55 as the USA built a three-point cushion.
Under pressure, the Indians bounced back with a 59 in the third end to reduce the deficit and then maintained their momentum to seal the final end and the gold.
Among the men's compound archers, Abhishek Verma and Ojas Deotale reached the pre-quarterfinals, while Jyothi, a multiple World Cup gold medallist, bowed out in the quarterfinals of the women's individual compound event.