Madrid, July 12: Jyothi Surekha Vennam clinched two silver medals and a bronze to cap a hat-trick of podium finishes at the Archery World Cup Stage 4 here on Saturday.
Notwithstanding the medal-winning show, the performance exposed Indian archers’ struggles under pressure in crunch situations.
The trio of Jyothi, Parneet Kaur and 16-year-old debutant Prithika Pradeep, who had topped the qualification round with a total of 2116 points, looked well on course for gold and justify their top-billing when they led 170-169 after the third end.
However, they faltered under pressure at the decisive moment, eventually going down 225-227 to Chinese Taipei.
In the mixed team event, the top-seeded Indian pair of Jyothi and Rishabh Yadav, who had shattered the qualifying world record with a total of 1431 points on the opening day, outwitted 10th-seeded El Salvador duo of Paola Corado and Douglas Vladimir Nolasco 156-153 to claim bronze.
Jyothi had another shot at gold in the individual compound final but lost 147-148 to Britain’s Ella Gibson. Earlier, she had edged Korea’s Han Seungyeon 144-143 in the semifinals.
Parneet also missed out on a medal, going down 143-146 to Han in the bronze playoff.
In the gold medal match, Jyothi trailed from the start, going down 29-30 in the first end. She continued to stay behind at 58-59 after the second end and 88-89 after the third, before Ella extended her lead to 119-117 heading into the final end.
In the women’s compound team event, both teams were locked at 57-all after the first end, but the Indians raised their game in the second, dropping just two points to take the end 58-56 and open up a slender 115-113 lead.
They still held a narrow advantage despite losing the third end by a point (55-56) after an untimely arrow found the 8-ring.
The gold was well within reach, but the Indians simply could not close it out in the fourth and final end.
A wayward 7 in the final-end proved costly, while Chinese Taipei’s trio of Huang I-Jou, Chen Yi-Hsuan and Chiu Yu-Erh held their composure to shoot a match-winning 58.
The Indians, in contrast, could muster only 55 — an underwhelming effort at a stage where consistency and nerves matter most.
The defeat once again exposed the team’s mental frailties in tight finishes and underlined the void left since the departure of reputed compound coach Sergio Pagni after the 2022 Asian Games — a void that still remains unaddressed.
In the bronze playoff, the scores were tied 39-39 after the first end, but Jyothi and Rishabh pulled ahead by two points after the second and maintained their lead till the end to seal victory. (PTI)
