Amravati: Sahil Jadhav, a 25-year-old archer from Satara, clinched his first World Cup medal on Saturday. Jadhav won a bronze in the compound individual category, marking India's first medal at the World Cup Archery Stage 2 in Shanghai.
Jadhav's Journey to Bronze
Jadhav tasted success in his second World Cup appearance after making his debut at Pueblo in Mexico last month. His bronze medal came as a silver lining amid a lackluster showing by India's compound archers in Shanghai. Indian men, women, and mixed teams faced early exits in the event.
Bronze Medal Match
Jadhav defeated Denmark's veteran Martin Damsbo in the bronze medal match by shooting two perfect 30s while dropping only 3 points total across 15 arrows. The Satara archer led the first end 30-29 and maintained his one-point lead in the second end, where both archers shot 29 each. The third end saw Jadhav shoot a perfect 30 as against Damsbo's 29 for an overall 2-point lead (89-87). Jadhav shot 29 to Damsbo's 28 in the fourth end to increase his lead by three points — which he maintained in the fifth end, where both archers shot 29 each — to clinch the bronze 147-144.
"It's a big win. Jadhav played extremely well to win his first medal," said Pravin Sawant, his coach at Drushti Archery Academy in Satara.
Semifinal and Other Results
Earlier in the day, Jadhav went down fighting to France's Nicolas Gerard in the semifinal. Jadhav, the 8th seed, matched his rival arrow for arrow until the last end before going down by just one point, losing 146-147.
The individual gold was clinched by Mexican Sebastian Garcia Flores, who beat Gerard in a shoot-off (9*-9) after both were tied at 145. Lisell Jaamta of Estonia won the women's compound individual gold by defeating Mexico's Andrea Becerra 145-144. American Alexia Ruiz claimed bronze, beating Dafne Quintero of Mexico 148-145.
Team Finals and Upcoming Matches
In the team finals, Turkey's men and women claimed gold after beating the USA in both finals. The USA claimed the mixed team gold, beating Turkey 157-154.
On Sunday, the Indian women's recurve team takes on hosts China in the final. Also, Simaranjeet Kaur will face off against world No. 1 Kang Cheyoung of South Korea in the recurve individual semifinal.
