Seasoned Jyothi Surekha Vennam led the charge as Indian compound archers lived up to their reputation, topping the qualification and also grabbed No. 1 seeding in women’s and mixed pair team events at the Asian Games here on Sunday.
World champion Ojas Deotale and 2014 Asian Games silver medalist Abhishek Verma secured third-fourth place finish as India took the second seedings in men’s team compound qualifiers.
The 27-year-old Jyothi set the tone in the first-half of the session when she edged her South Korean rivals to top the qualification with 704 points, five clear of So Chaewon.
Reigning world champion Aditi Swami (696) secured the fourth spot and became the second Indian to make the cut for the elimination round.
Jyothi, Aditi along with Parneet Kaur (12th place) had an aggregate team score of 2087, which was a two-way tie with South Korea, but the Indians sealed the top-spot with more number of ‘10+X’ scores (150-146) than their rivals.
By virtue of their top seeding, the Indian women’s team have got a bye into the quarterfinals where they will face the winners of the match between Hong Kong and Bangladesh.
But it was a bit of disappointment for the 21-year-old Deotale who finished just three points behind the veteran Joo Jaehoon (712). South Korea had top-two spots with Chang Cheng-Wei finishing second (711).
At 2117 points each, the men’s compound team were also locked for the top-spot with the Koreans who claimed the top-seed with better 10+X scores (176-174).
Indian compound mixed team also grabbed the top billing with 1413 points, two ahead of Korea.
The mixed team event — in both recurve and compound disciplines — is a new category added to this edition of the Asian Games which will offer 10 gold medals, up from eight in 2018. Jyothi and Deotale, who have the two best finishes among the Indians, will be India’s contestants and will face bottom-ranked UAE in the round of 16.
In pursuit of her first-ever Asian Games individual medal, the 27-year-old Jyothi, who is the most accomplished Indian compound archer, grabbed all the attention in the morning session at the Fuyang Yinhu Sports Centre.
