The Indian archer, Jyothi Surekha Vennam, has clinched the gold medal in women’s
individual compound at the ongoing Asian Archery Championships. She defeated South
Korea’s Oh Yoohyun 146-145 in a final marred by controversy.
The 25-year-old Jyothi had a perfect start to the final shooting 30 with the first set of
three arrows, compared to the South Korean’s 29 to take an early advantage.
However, a blip in the second set with a score of 28 meant that Oh Yoohyun equalised at 58-58. The third set swung the match in Jyothi’s favour yet again as she shot a perfect 30, while Yoohyun could reply back only with 28 and handed a two-point lead. The fourth set went neck to neck with both archers shooting perfect 30s and the Indian maintaining a 118-116 lead.
Though Jyothi Surekha Vennam erred in the final set with two 9s, a controversial final
arrow from Oh Yoohyun handed India their first gold medal of this edition of the Asian
Archery Championships. While the South Korean contingent believed Yoohyun’s final arrow to be a ten-pointer, the referee after a lot of deliberation decided otherwise.
Jyothi had earlier defeated Kim Yunhee 148-143 in the semifinal to deny the South
Koreans a podium sweep.
Though Jyothi’s gold is India’s third medal in this edition of the Asian Championships, this is the country’s first medal in the individual section. Earlier, the men’s compound team had clinched the bronze while the mixed compound team of Jyothi and Rishab Yadav had bagged the silver.
