World Archery Championships 2023: Indian women's compound team creates history by winning gold for the first time

Jyothi Surekha Vennam, Parneet Kaur, and Aditi Gopichand Swami won the first gold medal for India in the women's compound category of the World Archery Championships 2023 in Berlin, Germany, on Friday.

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The women's compound team beat Dafne Quintero, Ana Sofía Hernandez Jeon, and Andrea Becerra of Mexico 235–229 in the group final. Earlier India had won 9 silver and 2 bronze medals in this World Archery Championships 2023 tournament. Earlier, the Indian women's team defeated Colombia 220-216 in the semi-finals of the World Archery Championships 2023 in Berlin, Germany. The tournament is held once in four years. There is also a quota for Olympic qualification.

Moreover, The Indian trio defeated Turkey in the World Archery Championships 2023 pre-quarterfinals. After that, they took the better of Chinese Taipei in the quarter-finals after receiving a bye in the first round. Heading into the Berlin meet, India had won 11 medals - nine silvers and two bronze - at the World Archery Championships.

#WorldArchery

The Indian women's compound team of Jyothi Vennam, Aditi Swami and Parneet Kaur won the country it's first ever World Archery Championships gold medal. https://t.co/H0I44sa3Kd

— The Field (@thefield_in) August 4, 2023

The 16-year-old Aditi Gopichand Swami broke the Under-18 world record in the compound women's section at the Archery World Cup held in Colombia last month. She scored a total of 711 marks out of 720 and beat the previous world record of 705 marks.

As the road to the Paris Olympics continues, the next crucial round of qualifiers for India will be the Continental Games. For India, this opportunity comes with the Hangzhou Asian Games in October. Following the Asian Games, the Asian Championship in November in Bangkok will be the penultimate qualifying tournament. Then, the final chance will come with the Antalya World Cup in June of the following year. These tournaments will be the last shot for Indian archers to earn their berths for the Paris games.

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However, there's a safety net for India. In the worst-case scenario, if they don't secure a direct qualification from any of the events, the country will still have an opportunity through its top-8 world ranking. The World Ranking List will award quota places to the highest-ranked Indian archers, ensuring a fair chance for representation.