The Indian women’s team battled back to overcome Chinese Taipei 230-229 in a tense final to earn the gold medal in the Women’s Team Compound Archery competition on Thursday at the Fuyang Yinhu Sports Centre in Hangzhou.
In the match held over 25 arrows at 50m range, the Indian team of Jyothi Surekha Vennam, Aditi Gopichand Swami, and Parneet Kaur shot perfect arrows to defeat the Chinese Taipei team of Chen Yi-Hsuan, I-Jou Huang, and Lu-Yun Wang.
Over four rounds, each team took turns shooting two arrows per archer, and the Indian came back strongly after behind by two points in the opening round.
The Indian women’s team battled back to overcome Chinese Taipei 230-229 in a tense final to earn the gold medal in the Women’s Team Compound Archery competition on Thursday at the Fuyang Yinhu Sports Centre in Hangzhou.
The Indians got off to a good start, with Parneet Kaur shooting the first arrow, followed by Aditi, the 17-year-old reigning World Champion, and Jyothi Surekha Vennam in third.
The Indians scored 54 points out of a possible 60 in the first round, with Parneet shooting a nine and an eight, Aditi shooting two 9s, and Jyothi shooting a 10 and a nine. The Chinese Taipei trio, on the other hand, had three 10s but a 7 and a 9 meant they did not get out to a significant lead.
India won the following End (round) 58-55, with four 10s and two 9s. Their opponents managed three 10s and two 9s, but a seven off the 12th arrow proved a stumbling block once more as India lead 112-111.
The Chinese Taipei trio hit a flawless 60 in the third End, but the Indians had a nine on the 13th arrow, losing the round 59-60, and the scores were tied 171-171 at the end.
However, in the fourth and final round, the Indians fired five scores of 10 and a nine, while the Chinese Taipei archers could only muster 58 as two of their archers shot 9, losing the match by one point.
It was a small victory, but it symbolized India’s ascent in compound archery, as they had nearly ended Korea’s dominance in this discipline.
The Indian men’s 4400 metre relay team made Asian Games history by winning gold for the first time since the 1962 event in Jakarta.
While the men made history, India failed to win gold in the women’s 4x400m relay for the first time since Busan in 2002.
The Indian male quartet of Muhammed Anas Yahiya, Amoj Jacob, Muhammed Ajmal Variyathodi, and Rajesh Ramesh won the gold medal here on Wednesday with a time of 3 minutes, 01.58 seconds.
Qatar won silver in 3:02.05, while Sri Lanka grabbed bronze in 3:03.55.
During the war, the same Indian foursome had given the Mighty United States a run for its money during the heats at the World Championship in Budapest and eventually finished fifth in the final.
Muhammed Anas got out to a quick start, starting fifth and clocking 43.60 seconds. Even though Amoj Jacob’s leg time was 47.01 seconds, he was able to propel India to first place. When Muhammed Ajmal grabbed the baton, Qatar was hot on India’s tail, but he finished his leg in 45.61 seconds to keep India in first place, and in the final leg, Rajesh Ramesh recorded 45.36 seconds to take first place.
This was India’s first gold medal in the men’s 4x400m relay since Daljit Singh, Jagdish Singh, Makhan Singh, and Milkha Milkha won gold in Jakarta in 1962.
Since then, India has won seven silver medals in this event, the most recent of which came in the 2018 edition in Jakarta.
India had won the gold medal in the inaugural Asian Games in 1951 too.
Source:IANS