Abhishek Verma and Jyoti won a bronze medal. (Reuters Photo)
On Saturday morning, India’s compound archers were staring at the prospect of returning from the ongoing Archery World Cup in Shanghai empty-handed. Both men’s and women’s compound teams had lost their respective bronze medal playoffs, and the only event remaining was the duel for the third-place in the compound mixed team. This was the event they had finished sixth last year.
However, the team comprised Abhishek Verma, India’s most experienced compound archer, and the rapidly improving Jyoti Surekha Vennam. They were up against the fiesty Turks, who are known to seize the early advantage. Thankfully for India, they gained a crucial four-point lead in the first round (39-35), which proved to be the clincher as Abhishek and Jyoti combined to defeat the Turkish duo of Yesim Bostan and Demir Elmaagacli 154-148 and clinch bronze.
This is Verma’s second bronze at World Cup events, and his seventh medal overall. For Jyoti, this is her first major breakthrough at an international competition.
“It was a very good effort from us. We kept the pressure on them right from the start. What worked for us was our co-ordination, which is a prerequisite in such events. I’m really happy for Jyoti as this is her first medal ever,” a relieved Verma said after the win.
The win notwithstanding, Verma couldn’t conceal his disappointment at the narrow loss in the bronze medal playoff in the men’s team event. Verma, along with Rajat Chauhan and Chinna Raju Srither went down 332-334 to France in rather dramatic circumstances. They had earlier lost to South Korea in the semifinal.
“I thought we put up a great show against France. It was too close to call in the end. As you can see by the score (332-334). There was nothing more we could have done. The match shows just how much the competition has intensified,” he explained.
Despite the solitary bronze, Verma did manage to improve his score to an impressive 710 out of 720 in the individual event. This will serve as one of the major takeaways from the showpiece event in Shanghai.
Lokesh Chand, Verma’s childhood coach, and someone who has seen him evolve into a champion athlete from close quarters, believed that if his ward pushed himself a bit more, scoring 712 was possible. “Despite not finishing on the podium, his scores have been pretty impressive in the individual event in Shanghai. If he can stretch himself a bit more he can get 712…he has achieved it during practice, so it’s gettable.”
The World Cup is the first major event in archery this year. With the Asian Games a little more than three months away, India’s compound archers led by the irrepressible Verma would like to believe that Shanghai was just the start, and by the time Jakarta comes, a rich haul is a possibility.