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 competition, was a welcome relief as none of the recurve and men's compound archers were able to achieve a top result and returned empty-handed.
Later, the Indian mixed team of Pragati and Ojas Pravin Deotale lost 154-155 to the USA pair of Alexis Ruiz and Stephan Hansen in the bronze medal match, ending their campaign.
This was a stark reality check for the Indians, who are in a crucial year culminating with the Asian Games later this year, as none of the recurve participants – including former Olympians Tarundeep Rai, Atanu Das, Dhiraj Bommadevara, and Deepika Kumari – were able to progress to the medal rounds.
Even the medal rounds proved elusive, with Das and Dhiraj only reaching the pre-quarterfinals before losing to their respective opponents.
As a team, the men's recurve side, which qualified as the 10th seed, suffered a disappointing opening-round exit, losing to Spain in straight sets.
The women's recurve team also faced an early setback, but were eliminated in the quarterfinals against Turkey.
In the women's individual recurve section, India's most decorated archer, Deepika, lost in the second round, while Ankita Bhakat, Simranjeet Kaur, and Kumkum Mohod advanced one round further before exiting in the third round.
The pair of Dhiraj and Kumkum, who had qualified as India's mixed team, also had a disastrous outing, losing to Brazil in their opening round.
The women's team gold medal clash was a closely contested match.
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, scoring six perfect arrows in the final end to edge out the USA by a single point.
The Indian trio began strongly, scoring 59 in the opening end, while their USA opponents (Alexis Ruiz, Paige Pearce, and Olivia Dean) scored 58.
However, India slipped to just 10 in the second end, scoring 55 as the USA built a three-point lead.
Under pressure, the Indians bounced back with a 59 in the third end to reduce the deficit and then maintained their momentum to secure 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, was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the women's individual compound event.