The Indian Men's and Women's compound teams continued their winning momentum and secured final berths in both categories to ensure two medals in the ongoing World Cup Stage 4 in Paris on Wednesday, August 16.
The Indian women's team comprising Parneet Kaur, Jyothi Surekha Vennam and recently crowned world champion Aditi Swami came out on top against Great Britain 234-233 in an evenly contested affair. On the other hand, the men's team scripted a victory for the ages after it pipped South Korea in a cliffhanger to make it to the summit clash.
The team of Ojas Deotale, Prathamesh Jawakar, and Abhishek Verma ended on level terms with their South Korean counterparts 235-235 to start with and it did not end there as archers from both sides matched each other attempt for attempt in the shoot-off (30-30) as well.
But a near bull's eye attempt from world champion Ojas Deotale which landed closer to the centre (X) helped the Indian side to trump the Korean trio of Choi Yonghee, Kim Jongho and Yang Jaewon at the end 235-235 (30*-30).
The line-ups for the much-anticipated finals have been revealed. While the men's team will take on the United States of America in the battle to bag gold, the Indian women's team will lock horns with Mexico in the finale and stake a claim for gold.
Members from both men and women's teams spoke to World Archery after the semi-final fixtures culminated and reflected on the clashes and how it felt to be a step away from helping India bag two gold medals.
"It was a very tight match and we were just shooting, focusing on the shot while calming our nerves," said Parneet to World Archery.
"We have shot in the World Championships before and as a team, even if we were losing a few points, we were focusing on pushing each other to do our best," mentioned Aditi after the semi-final win over Great Britain.
"It was a piece of cake. It’s a special feeling that we’re all in the finals together," Deotale told World Archery.
