Aichi-Nagoya: The Indian archery trio of Jyothi Surekha Vennam, Chikitha Taniparthi and Prithika Pradeep secured a sensational gold medal for the nation, beating China in the final of the women’s compound archery team event at the ongoing Asian Games in Japan on Wednesday.
Indian archers were absolutely clinical in the title clash against China, beating them 238-234. India maintained their lead right from the first rotation, giving Jyothi her fourth Asian Games gold and a first Asiad gold medal to Chikitha and Prithika on their debuts.
This is India’s seventh gold at the Asian Games and takes the tally to 53 medals, including 21 silvers and 25 bronze medals. They equalled South Korea’s world record of 238, set in 2014, to secure the gold.
China started the gold medal match with three nines, finishing the first rotation with 27 points. On the other hand, the Indian trio started with three tens, making it a 30-27 lead for India.
China bounced back with two tens in the second rotation, while India also responded with three tens, making it India lead of 60-57 at the end of the second rotation. One of China’s earlier nines was converted to a 10, making it a 60-58 lead for India.
In the third rotation, China started with a nine and two back-to-back tens. Chikitha registered India’s first nine, dropping a point, while Prithika and Jyothi each scored 10s each, keeping India’s lead intact at 89-87.
Halfway point, India was leading 119-116, with China registering two 10s and a nine to end the first half, while India maintained a perfect record of three 10s.
The second half started with three tens from China and a nine and two tens from India, with India still maintaining a two-point lead at 148-146.
China just could not get those three perfect tens, while India got theirs in the next rotation, and India’s lead increased by one point to 178-175. After a review, one of China’s early nine-point was upgraded to 10, making it 178-176 in favour of India.
China slipped with 10 and two nines, while India’s two tens from Prithika and Jyothi kept India in the lead of 208-204.
India finally beat China, managing a perfect 10 each to conclude the final.
Earlier, the Indian women’s compound archery team set up a gold medal match against China, beating South Korea in a tense semifinal.
India beat South Korea by 235-233, by the barest of margins. With South Korea piling up pressure in the second half of the match and levelling the scores at 175-all, the Indians first took a one-point lead, and then two 10s from Chikitha Taniparthi and Prithika Pradeep and a nine from Jyothi Surekha Vennam helped India seal a two-point win.
Prithika and Jyothi were the stars for India, shooting six tens out of eight attempts, with Chikitha getting five 10s in eight attempts.
The Indian trio of Jyothi, Chikitha and Prithika started off well, with Prithika managing a nine and Jyothi following it with a 10. South Korea had a fine start with three 10s, as per ESPN.
India responded back with convincing 10s from the trio in the second rotation, and South Korea managed to level the scores 59-59 at the end of second rotation.
During the third rotation, India was slightly rocky at the start, with Chikitha managing only a nine, but Prithika and Jyothi made up for it by firing perfect 10s. South Korea started with a nine as well, and then the same score on the second and third shot helped India reach a lead for the first time in the match, at 88-86.
India had another incredible rotation, with 10s raining from Chikitha, Prithika and Jyothi, while the 14-year-old Kang managed her third nine in a row and the other two getting perfect 10s. Halfway through the semifinal, India led 118-115.
During the second half, Koreans got to shoot first, with India tasked with matching their opponents. South Korea made a comeback at the start of the second half, managing three 10s. On the other hand for India, Chikitha and Prithika shot perfect 10s while Jyothi shot her first nine of the match. Nonetheless, Team India led 147-145.
South Korea continued to turn tables with another perfect set of three tens, while Chikitha and Prithika added two nines and Jyothi a 10, bringing the scores level to 175-175.
Later, two 10s came from Korea and a nine from Kang, which was responded by a nine from Chikitha and 10s from two other Indians. India led by one point at 205-204, with one set of arrows from each player to go.
After South Korea finished the semifinal with a score of 233, two tens from Chikitha and Prithika and a nine from Jyothi helped India secure a win by two points, making it 235-233.