Abhishek Verma wins gold at World Archery Championships

Indian Archer Abhishek Verma won gold todayCaption

Indian archer Abhishek Verma took top prize at the World Archery Championships in Poland today, marking a special independence day for the nation.

Scoring an impressive 13 perfect-10s and putting on a stunning display of archery, Verma took the gold medal at the compound men’s individual event. He beat Iranian archer Esmail Ebadi 148-145.

Verma’s victory marks the only win India has had at the championships as both the men’s and women’s recurve teams failed in the early rounds of the team events at the championship.

Ebadi and Verma last faced off at the Asian Games in 2014 at Incheon, South Korea, a battle in which Ebadi, the ruling champion, had emerged the victor.

Of his 15 arrows, Verma had 5 closest to the bullseye, shooting a maximum including the shot that would ultimately be closest to the centre. He scored 30 points for that shot in contrast to Ebadi’s 28.

Although the battle was initially close, Verma’s maximum gave him a lead that Ebadi would eventually be unable to overcome despite shooting a maximum in his final shot; although Verma had a point less than his opponent, his lead was enough to secure him the victory and gold.

The Indian compound men's team also lost the bronze medal playoff to a strong, higher-ranked Italian side, missing out on victory by 3 points. Italians Pagnoni, Pagni and Nencioni beat the Indian team of Kawalpreet Singh, Rajat Chauhan and Verma himself 233-230.

The mixed pair of Deepika Kumari and Mangal Singh Champia will face the Mexican mixed team tomorrow in their final event, and will hope to secure a second gold medal for India.