Jyothi Surekha Vennam leads India’s gold haul at Archery World Cup

Shanghai: Jyothi Surekha Vennam spearheaded India's dominance with a rare hat-trick of gold medals as the compound archers lapped up five medals in the ongoing Archery World Cup Stage 1 in Shanghai on Saturday.

The Asian Games champion, ranked world No. 3, fought past tournament top seed Andrea Becerra of Mexico in a tight shoot-off finish 146-146 (9*-9) to become the second Indian after Deepika Kumari to secure triple gold medals in a World Cup.

Three-time Olympian and former world No. 1 Deepika achieved the incredible feat at the Paris World Cup Stage 3 in June 2021.

Youngster Priyansh capped India's spectacular outing in the compound section, by bagging his maiden World Cup medal in the form of a silver in the men's individual section.

In his second Cup appearance, the 21-year-old found himself up against a formidable opponent in 2021 World champion Nico Wiener, who delivered a flawless performance, scoring a perfect 150 out of a maximum 150.

Earlier, in the morning session, India's archers underlined their supremacy in non-Olympic compound archery, bagging three gold medals to make a clean sweep of the team events.

Vennam, Aditi Swami and Parneet Kaur dropped just four points while trouncing Italy 236-225 in the women's compound team event to open the country’s account with a gold in the season-opening global showpiece.

Indian men’s compound archery team of Prathamesh Fuge, Priyansh & Abhishek Verma bagged the second gold defeating The Netherlands 238-231.

The men’s compound team missed the world record created by team USA in the 2011 Turin World Cup by just 1 point.

The mixed team completed the sweep when second-seeded Jyothi and Abhishek warded off a late resurgence from their Estonian rivals -- Lisell Jaatma and Robin Jaatma -- to prevail 158-157 in a thrilling finish.

Medal rounds in the recurve section will be on Sunday and India are eyeing two gold from the Olympic discipline. Agencies

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