Archery World Cup: Jyothi Surekha clinches individual, mixed team gold in compound section of Stage 1

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India's rising archer Jyothi Surekha Vennam clinched an individual gold medal in compound archery at the World Cup Stage 1 in Antalya on Saturday (April 22).

With her win in the final against legendary Colombian archer Sara Lopez, the Indian avenged her defeat at the 2021 World Championships final. Jyothi returned with an impressive 149-146 triumph to bag the yellow metal.

Jyothi, who is ranked 11th in the world, defeated Ella Gibson of the United Kingdom in the women's compound semi-final with a scoreline of 148-146. Jyothi, the 2021 World Championship silver medallist, clinched her maiden individual gold at the showpiece with a one-sided win.

Having topped the qualification with a world record-equalling score, the world number 11 Jyothi carried her incredible shooting to the individual compound section to bag her maiden gold.

While she had a flawless run in the mixed team final, the 26-year-old from Vijayawada dropped just three points in the semifinal and final. A silver medallist at the Paris World Cup Stage 3 last year, Jyothi eliminated reigning world number one Ella Gibson of Britain 148-146 in a tight semifinal finish that went till the fifth and final end.

Jyothi and Ella were 118-all till the penultimate end. In the decider, the Indian held her nerves to seal the issue with three 10s, as her rival cracked under pressure by dropping two points.

Then in a repeat of the 2021 World Championship final, Jyothi and Sara were locked 30-all after both of them hit three 10s, to begin with.

The Indian stepped up in the second end when she totalled 30 with two Xs (closer to centre) to take a slender one-point lead as Sara managed 29.

Jyothi extended her lead by two points (119-117) with three more 10s in the fourth end, where Sara once again dropped one point.

Maintaining her consistency, Jyothi wrapped up the issue with yet another perfect round to exact sweet revenge on the Colombian.

Jyothi Surekha & Ojas Deotale Win Mixed Team Gold

Earlier in the day, Jyothi and her debutant partner Ojas Deotale grabbed the compound mixed team archery gold to open their account on the World Cup Stage 1.

The pair was at their ruthless best to bag India's second World Cup gold medal in the mixed compound event. Jyothi and veteran Abhishek Verma had clinched the maiden gold in World Cup-3 in Paris 2022. (Antalya Archery World Cup 2023 Live Streaming: India vs China Men's Team Recurve Final Live)

In the absence of India's multiple World Cup winner Verma, who failed to make the cut from the national trials, the new-look Indian pair hardly looked short on experience and hit the centre an incredible 15 times from 16 arrows to defeat their 12th-seeded opponents in a lopsided final.

Of the 15 perfect 10s, 12 times they hit the X (closer to the centre). The second-seeded Indian duo of Jyothi and 20-year-old Deotale dropped just one point only once in the final end, otherwise, it would have been a perfect 160/160.

There was no stopping Jyothi and Deotale. They drilled in a string of perfect 10s to race to a 120-116 lead in the penultimate end. The second end was a fairy tale affair as they hit the X all on their four attempts to make it 80-76.

Earlier, the Indian women's compound team - comprising Jyothi Surekha, Aditi Swami and Avneet Kaur - made a quarterfinal exit after losing to the USA 225-233. The team was seeded first and was subsequently handed a first-round bye.

The compound mixed team -- Jyothi and Ojas -- are seeded second and will begin their campaign in the second round after being handed a first-round bye.

On Sunday, India's recurve archery men's team will face a strong rival in China in the final. India, who finished fourth in the rankings after qualification rounds, overcame tough challenges in Tokyo Olympic bronze (Japan) and sliver (Chinese Taipei) medallists on the way to the semifinal.

In the last-four round, the India trio -- Atanu Das, Tarundeep Rai and Dhiraj Bommadevara -- defeated the Netherlands 6-2. China is making a return to the international circuit after a gap of four years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

(With Inputs from PTI)