Indian compound archer Prathamesh Jawkar’s dream run in his maiden ‘World Cup Final’ ended with a silver medal after he lost to Denmark’s Mathias Fullerton by the narrowest of margins in an intense shoot-off finish. Shanghai World Cup champion Jawkar, who had previously stunned the world No. 1 and reigning champion Mike Schloesser for the second time in four months to reach the final, ended up in a 148-148 (10-10*) tie with Fullerton. Fullerton was declared the winner due to his arrow being closer to the center. The Danish archer established an early advantage as the 20-year-old Indian dropped one point during the initial round of their final showdown. Down 89-90 at the midway point, Jawkar leveled the final contest by scoring a perfect 30 points out of a potential 30, resulting in a 119-119 tie entering the last round.
But in the designated final end, both the archers shot identical scores of 29 each to take it to shoot-off. The tiebreaker also saw a stalemate as the Indian missed Fullerton’s arrow by narrowest of margins. During the semi-final, the archer from Maharashtra delivered an impeccable performance, scoring a perfect 150 out of a possible 150 points, narrowly defeating Schloesser by just one point (150-149). This victory also prevented the Dutchman from achieving a hat-trick of World Cup Final titles. Schloesser had previously claimed four ‘World Cup Final’ titles in 2016, 2019, 2021, and 2022. Notably, this marked Jawkar’s second triumph over the ‘Mr. Perfectionist’ in a span of four months.
