Rhine-Ruhr, Essen (Germany), Jul 25 (PTI) India’s Parneet Kaur and Kushal Dalal claimed the country’s first gold medal at the World University Games by defeating South Korea’s Yerin Park and Seunghyun Park in the mixed compound archery final on Friday.
The Indian duo came from behind after trailing by one point at the halfway mark. They shot eight perfect arrows, including one ‘X’, across the final two ends to register a 157-154 win. Both teams were tied 39-39 after the first end. South Korea led 78-77 after the second, but Parneet and Dalal turned the match around with four perfect 10s in the third end to lead 117-114.
The Indian pair maintained their accuracy with another flawless 40 in the final end. Although the Korean team also shot 40, it was not enough to stop India from winning gold.
Parneet and Dalal’s triumph added to India’s tally of two other medals in archery team events earlier in the day. Dalal secured silver in the men’s compound team event, while Parneet, the Asian Games team gold medallist, won bronze in the women’s compound team event.
The women’s compound team of Parneet, Avneet Kaur and Madhura Dhamangaonkar defeated Great Britain 232-224 to claim bronze. They built an eight-point lead early and maintained their dominance throughout the match.
The men’s compound team of Dalal, Sahil Jadhav and Hritik Sharma narrowly missed out on gold, losing 231-232 to Turkey after a close contest. The Indian team led by three points midway but Turkey shot a perfect 60 in the third end and edged ahead in the final round.
India remains in contention for more medals, with Dalal and Jadhav set to face each other in an all-India men’s individual semifinal on Saturday. Parneet will also compete for an individual medal against South Korea’s S Kim in the semifinals.