Archery World Cup 2023: Compound archers Ojas Deotale, Jyothi Surekha Vennam defeated Italy to assure first medal

India's compound archery pair of Ojas Deotale, Jyothi Surekha Vennam assured themselves of a medal in the second edition of the Archery World Cup 2023 by qualifying for the final in Shanghai on Friday.

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The Indian pair of Ojas Deotale and Jyothi Surekha Vennam took a strong step towards winning their second successive World Cup gold medal. They beat their Italian rivals 157-157 (19*-19) in a thrilling Archery World Cup 2023 semi-final. The sixth-seeded Indian pair will face top-seeded Korea in the final on Saturday. After winning the gold medal in the first leg of the World Cup in Antalya last month, the Indian pair will face a tough test in the final here.

The Indian pair comfortably beat Bangladesh 158-151 in the Archery World Cup 2023 pre-quarterfinals. Earlier, they won 157-156 over a formidable Turkey team in the next round. In the semi-finals, Italy's Elisa Roner and Elia Fregnan shot perfect 40s in the first round to take a one-point lead. The Italian team scored 40 in the third period and increased their lead to two points (117-119). But Ojas and Jyothi came back brilliantly and shot 40s in the fourth round to take the match to a shoot-off with the Indian pair's arrows being closer to the center and making it to the finals on that basis.

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However, India was disappointed in the recurve event at the Archery World Cup 2023. Dhiraj Bommadevara and Simranjeet Kaur lost their opening match 2-6 (39-35, 37-39, 37-38, 34-35) to Indonesia. The Indian pair, who made it to the second round (pre-quarterfinals) by virtue of their rankings, were ahead 2-0 initially against Indonesia. But they could not capitalize on it and lost to their lower-ranked team. They had a chance in the fourth end but they were wayward and shot in the outer seven-point ring to make an early exit.