Okazaki: India continued its dominance in compound archery at the Asian Games as Chikitha Taniparthi and Sahil Jadhav held their nerve in a dramatic shoot-off to defeat South Korea and win the compound mixed team gold.
The Indian pair edged past South Korea’s Park Jungyoon and Choi Yonghee after the final ended level at 157-157, with the victory also securing India a quota place for the compound mixed team event at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics, where the discipline is set to make its Olympic debut.
This is Chikitha’s second gold in Aichi-Nagoya after she featured in the women’s team gold medal win earlier today. This is India’s eighth gold at the ongoing edition of the continental showpiece. Overall, India’s medal tally currently stands at 54, including eight gold, 21 silver and 25 bronze medals.
Chikitha and Sahil produced an outstanding start, with both archers finding the 10-ring with their opening shots. The Koreans matched them to make it 20-20 after the opening rotation.
India then gained the first advantage when Park dropped a 9. Chikitha and Sahil responded with another pair of 10s to move 40-39 ahead at the end of the first end.
The Indians maintained their accuracy in the second end, extending their advantage to two points. Chikitha and Sahil continued to deliver perfect scores, with both remaining unbeaten in their opening four shots as India reached the halfway stage with an 80-78 lead.
South Korea refused to surrender ground in the third end, but India again responded with two 10s from Chikitha and Sahil to move to 100-98.
The first signs of pressure arrived towards the end of the third end when both Indians missed the 10-ring, allowing South Korea to cut the deficit to one point. India led 118-117 with four arrows remaining for each side.
The final end produced another twist. Park and Choi both found 10s for South Korea, putting the pressure firmly on the Indian pair. Chikitha responded with a 10 before Sahil matched her effort, leaving India one point ahead with just two arrows.
South Korea then produced a perfect 20 from their final two arrows to take the score to 157, leaving India needing 20 to avoid defeat. Chikitha’s 9 appeared to put the Koreans in control, but Sahil delivered a crucial 10 to make it 157-157 and force a shoot-off.
With one arrow each deciding the tie, Chikitha struck a 10 and Park matched it. Sahil then found another 10, leaving Choi with the responsibility of keeping South Korea alive. Choi could only manage a 9, handing India the gold.
The triumph gave Chikitha her second gold medal of the Games, while Sahil claimed his first. It also continued India’s strong record in compound archery at the Asian Games after the country swept all four compound gold medals at Hangzhou, including the mixed team title won by Jyothi Surekha Vennam and Ojas Pravin Deotale.
Notably, the compound archers swept all five gold medals in Hangzhou 2023.
(IANS)
