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Abhishek Verma combined with world No. 3 women's compound archer Jyothi Surekha Vennam to claim India's first gold medal at Stage 3 of the Archery World Cup 2022 in Paris on Saturday.
Abhishek Verma and Jyothi Surekha Vennam defeated the French pair of Sophie Dodemont and Jean Philippe Boulch 152-149 in the compound mixed team final to grab the yellow metal. Later in the day, Jyothi Surekha Vennam and Sophie Dodemont met again in the compound women's individual semi-final which the Indian won by 147-145. Jyothi then lost to world No. 6 Ella Gibson of Great Britain in the final. Both shooters were tied at 148 each after the last set. Jyothi Surekha, however, lost the shoot-off and settled for silver. In the compound mixed team final, the Indian pair got off to a perfect start against the local duo of Sophie Dodemont and Jean Philippe Boulch and took a 40-37 lead in the first set. However, the opposition cut the lead to one point as they trailed the Indians 76-75 at the halfway stage. The trend continued as Abhishek and Jyothi kept the slender one-point lead intact at the end of the third set. In the final set, Asian Games gold medallist Abhishek Verma struck a perfect 10 with his first arrow while the French pair hit the 9s and 8. Jyothi Surekha Vennam responded with the 9s to help India pocket the gold medal. This was Abhishek Verma's third Archery World Cup gold medal this season. Abhishek Verma had won the men's compound team events in Turkey and South Korea early in the year. To enter the final, the Indian pair defeated Estonia in the semi-finals after getting the better of El Salvador in the quarter-finals. The women's recurve archery team of Deepika Kumari, Ankita Bhakat and Simranjeet Kaur will play in the gold medal match against Chinese Taipei on Sunday. (ANI)
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