Shanghai, May 9: Reigning World University Games champion Sahil Jadhav clinched his maiden Archery World Cup medal in only his second appearance on the global circuit, winning a bronze in the compound men’s event of the Stage 2, here on Saturday.
The 25-year-old Maharashtra archer defeated Denmark veteran player-cum-coach Martin Damsbo 147-144 in the bronze medal playoff to secure India’s first medal of the ongoing tournament.
It also marked India’s final medal in the compound section after none of his fellow mates reached the medal rounds.
India, traditionally a powerhouse in compound team events, had endured a disappointing campaign as all their teams bowed out early.
India will now look to add two more medals on the concluding day on Sunday in the recurve section.
The women’s team will compete for gold, while Simranjeet Kaur will begin her campaign from the semifinals, needing one win to secure her maiden World Cup medal.
Jadhav was trailing by one point after the opening end as the 40-year-old Damsbo started with three perfect 10s.
But the Indian responded strongly in the second end, shooting a perfect 30 while the Dane managed 27, helping Jadhav move ahead 59-57 overall.
From there, Jadhav stayed firmly in control, dropping just two points from his final nine arrows to seal a memorable three-point victory.
Jadhav, who had made his World Cup debut only last month in Puebla (Mexico), enjoyed a breakthrough campaign in Shanghai.
His impressive run began with a victory over India’s senior-most compound archer and multiple World Cup and Asian Games medallist Abhishek Verma in the round of 32.
He then defeated Germany’s Ruven Fluss in the pre-quarterfinals before edging past 2022 world champion and world No. 6 Nico Wiener of Austria in a tense shoot-off to enter the semifinals.
However, his bid for a gold ended in heartbreak as reigning world champion and world No. 3 Nicolas Girard of France edged him by a solitary point in a high-quality semifinal.
Jadhav kept Girard under pressure throughout the contest and trailed by just one point after the first three ends. He however matched the Frenchman with three perfect 10s in the third end and continued his consistency in the fourth, where he outscored Girard 30-29 to level the match at 117-117. But Girard showed his class in the deciding end, shooting three Xs – arrows closest to the centre after scoring 10s – to clinch a narrow one-point win over the Indian youngster. (PTI)
