Okazaki: Indian compound archer Ganesh Mani Ratnam Thirumuru won the men’s individual bronze medal, taking India’s tally in archery to four, on Thursday. Ganesh defeated Vietnam’s Cong Duc Dang 149-144 to clinch the third spot on the podium here at the Okazaki Chuo Sogo Park Multipurpose Square.
Ganesh produced a perfect finish as he hit 14 10s, closing with three successive 10s to reach 149 and pull clear of his opponent. This is his second medal at Aichi-Nagoya, having won the gold in the men’s team event on Wednesday.
India finish the compound archery competition with three gold medals in the team events and one bronze in the individuals.
Earlier, India’s Chikitha Taniparthi was knocked out of the women’s compound individual event after a close 144-143 loss to Indonesia’s Nurisa Dian Ashrifah in the quarter-finals.
Chikitha trailed after the opening two ends but turned things around in the third to take the lead. However, an 8, 9, 10 in the final end proved costly, as Nurisa responded with 10, 10, 9 to edge the contest.
Individual compound events at Aichi-Nagoya 2026 are two disciplines in which India have failed to defend their gold medal from Hangzhou 2023. Notably, the compound archers swept all five gold medals in Hangzhou 2023.
Chikitha had earlier won two gold medals in Aichi-Nagoya. She first bagged the gold in the women’s team before clinching mixed team title along with an Los Angeles Olympic quota place.
The Indian compound archery team, comprising Chikitha, Prithika Pradeep and Jyothi Surekha Vennam, beat China 238-234 to successfully defend the gold medal on Wednesday. India had won silver in the event in 2018 and bronze in 2014.
The Indian trio edged South Korea in the semifinal before dismissing China in the final with a world-record score of 238, which was set by the Koreans in Incheon 2014.
An hour later, Chikitha teamed up with Sahil Jadhav to win the compound mixed team gold, beating South Korea’s Park Jungyoon and Choi Yonghee in a shoot-off after the scores were levelled after the final end at 157-157. The victory also secured 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.
Moreover, Sahil also bagged his second gold when he took the field in the men’s team. The trio of Kushal Dalal, Sahil and Ganesh Mani Ratnam Thirumuru edged China after a dramatic comeback to clinch gold.
In Hangzhou 2023, Indian archers won record nine medals – five gold, two silver and two bronze. The compound archers swept all five gold medals on offer.
(IANS)
