Jyothi Surekha Vennam, Aditi Swami and Parneet Kaur continued India’s stellar show in archery at the Asian Games 2023.
They won gold after beating Yi-Hsuan Chen, I-Jou Huang, and Lu-Yun Wang of Chinese Taipei in a pulsating final by one point. This was India’s second gold medal in archery at the 19th Asian Games after the top finish in the mixed team event of compound archery. They have more medals confirmed as three of their archers are in the final of the individual event.
The Indian archers were off to a nervy start in the final. Parneet and Aditi started with a 9 each but Jyothi maintained the momentum with a 10. The Chinese Taipei archers got two 10s but their last one was a 7, which gave India an advantage but they failed to capitalise. Parneet, who was in excellent form in the semi-final, got an 8 while Aditi and Jyothi got 9 each. The Chinese Taipei archers came up with 10, 10 and 9 to take a two-point lead in the first End. Each End comprises six arrows, two each from every member of the team. 60 is the maximum score a team can achieve in an End.
In the second End, Jyothi once again the saving grace with a 10 after Parneet and Aditi shot 9s. The Chinese Taipei archers shot a perfect 30 to increase the lead to four points. Under pressure, Parneet and Aditi brought their A-game to the table as India got their first perfect 30 in the final. In the final three shots of this End, Taipei got 10, 10 and 7. The last shot of 7 became the turning point of the match as it gave India a one-point lead (112-111).
The next two Ends saw some of the best archery from both sides. The Chinese Taipei archers got a perfect 60 while India replied with 59. Only Parneet missed the bullseye (once) among the six archers as scores were level at 171-apiece after the third End.
In the final End, Parneet and Jyothi got 10 each while Aditi settled with a 9. A Taipei archer got a 9 too which meant scores were still level with three more arrows to go for each team. With the gold medal on the line, Aditi, Parneet and Jyothi showed remarkable composure to finish with a perfect 30 to put immense pressure on the Taipei side that had stunned Korea in the final. Their first arrow was a 9 which ensured India got gold despite two 10s from the last two archers. India won the final 230-229.
No difficulty in quarters and semis
The Indian trio had little difficulty in making it to the final. On Thursday, they started off by knocking over Hong Kong China in the quarterfinal and then made light work of Indonesia in the semis.
Jyothi, who has already won a gold medal at the Games with Ojas Pravin Deotale in the compound archery mixed team event led India’s charge along with Aditi Gopichand Swami. The experienced archers hit the bullseye multiple times in the quarterfinal against the Hong Kong China trio of Hung Ting Cheng, Yuk Sheung Wong, and Yin Yi Luk in the quarterfinal even as Parneet warmed up to the occasion. They registered a resounding win by 231-220 to enter the semi-final.
The outcome of the semi-final was no different. In fact, if anything, the Indian archers, especially Parneet, upped their shooting. They shot a perfect 60 in the first End to take a huge lead which became impossible for Indonesia to cover as the match progressed. India walked away with an easy win over Indonesia’s Ratih Fadhly, Syahara Khoerunisa, and Sri Ranti by 233-219.