Sports Shorts: India bag two bronze in Archery World C'ships

Jyothi Surekha Vennam produced a stellar show to help India clinch two bronze medals in the compound women's section of Archery World Championships, in Den Bosch, The Netherlands, on Saturday.

The Asian Games silver medallist first led the fight back in the team event by shooting six perfect 10s out of eight arrows as India, also featuring Muskan Kirar and Raj Kaur, bounced back to down Turkey 229-226 in the bronze play-off.

Jyothi then clinched another bronze in the evening session when she pipped world number two Yesim Bostan of Turkey 10-9 in the shoot-off after the duo were locked 145-all in five ends of 15 arrows each.

"Last time (Mexico City 2017) we won a silver but no regrets. We are happy to finish on the podium this time too," Jyothi said.

"World Championship medal means a lot as it comes after two years," added the 22-year-old from Vijayawada.

India are also in the fray for a possible first ever World Championship gold medal when the men's recurve team takes on China Sunday, in a bid to better their Madrid 2005 silver medal.

Jyothi, however, did not have the perfect start to the day when she shot in the outer circle for an 8 in the women's team bronze play-off as the Turk team of Yesim, Gizem Elmaagacli and Ipek Tomruk shot four perfect scores to win the first end by two points (57-55).

In the second end, the Turkey team failed to find the centre even once, while shooting an 8. The Indians snatched the opportunity and grabbed a three-point lead, winning by 58-53 with Jyothi finding her rhythm back.

Trailing by three points at the midway stage, the Turks got off to a solid start to the third end with four perfect shots and an X to aggregate 58.

But the Indians remained unnerved and shot three 10s and one closest to the centre to level the third end (58-58) that kept their three-point lead intact.

It was about holding their nerves as India once again shot a consistent 58 to level the fourth end that was enough to clinch the bronze.

"It's my first world championship medal, so I'm really excited. They put up a solid show, but we did better than them," Raj Kaur, who made a World Championship debut, said.

In the individual bronze play-off, Jyothi established a one-point lead after nine arrows but Yesim had two flawless ends of 60/60 to snatch a two-point lead going into the decider.

Under pressure, Jyothi was at her best to shoot three perfect 10s, including two closest to the centre, for a 145-145 draw, forcing the match into the tie-break.

There was no stopping Jyothi as she shot another perfect shot of 10 while her opponent wilted under pressure to miss the mark by one point.

"This is my first individual medal at the World Championships. I was a little nervous but I thought I would give my best. She also shot very well and kept the pressure," Jyothi said.

Asked about the 10 in the shoot-off, she said, "I thought I would shoot my arrow like how I do it every time." 

Indian women's hockey team beats Uruguay 4-1 in FIH Series Finals opener

The Indian women's hockey team began their campaign at the FIH Series Finals Hiroshima 2019 with an impressive 4-1 win over Uruguay in Hiroshima.

Ranked No.9 in the world, the Indian team opened their account with captain Rani giving them the lead in the 10th minute with a skilful strike. At the end of first quarter, India led 1-0 despite Uruguay dominating the possession and creating more opportunities.

The South American side had four circle penetrations and two penalty corners, all of them kept at bay by an alert Indian defence. From the two circle penetrations India made, skipper Rani converted one to give her side the lead.

India dominated possession in the second quarter. While Uruguay were kept quiet, India made their moves in the opposition half.

In the 21st minute, India got their first penalty corner and Gurjant Kaur did not make any mistake, converting the only PC her team got in the quarter into a goal to double her side's lead in the match.

The third quarter had a scrappy start as both sides kept losing the ball. But soon, India got a penalty corner but Uruguayan goalkeeper Constance Schmidt-Liermann was upto the challenge keeping out India's shot.

In the same minute, Uruguay got two penalty corners but both were wasted as India kept their defence tight to keep the scoreline at 2-0.

India's constant pressure reaped dividends in the 40th minute. A nice pass from Vandana Katariya was ably converted by Jyoti to make it 3-0 for India, a scoreline that remained intact at the end of the third quarter.

The fourth quarter did not have any different script. In the 50th minute, Neha Goyal had a chance to score but she fumbled the chance, inches from the goal post at the right corner.

Against the run of the play, a minute later, Uruguay finally found the back of the net with some individual brilliance from Maria Teresa Viana Ache. She ran through the Indian defence to score her team's first goal in the 51st minute.

India were ready to sit on the lead as five minutes later they made it 4-1. Captain Rani made a smart pass in the opposition 'D' to Lalremsiami who was unmarked and she nudged the ball into Uruguayan goal.