Archery World Cup final 2023: Prathamesh Jawkar wins silver in his maiden appearance

It was the battle among the 20-year-old's in the final.

India's upcoming youngster Prathamesh Jawkar won the silver medal in the men's Compound Archery after going down to Denmark's Fullerton in the shoot-offs at Archery World Cup final 2023. By the virtue of this win, Prathamesh becomes the first medalist from India in the current edition. Earlier in the day, compatriot Abhishek Verma lost a close bronze medal playoff match (149-150) and had to settle for the 4th place.

The 20-year-old Indian, started his campaign on a bright note by defeating Italy's Miguel Becerra comprehensively (149-141). In the following round, Prathamesh Jawkar scored a perfect 150 to Mike Schloesser's 149 and progressed to his first final. Meanwhile, Abhishek Verma, started his campaign with a shoot-off win over Sawyer Sullivan but lost to eventual champion Fullerton (147-150) in the semifinals.

In the final, the battle was amongst the 20-year-old's, but this was Fullerton's third Archery World Cup final appearance and with experience held a slight edge. Prathamesh was the first to score below a 10 pointer in the third series and Fullerton failed to take an advantage and soon after scored a 9. With the scores tied ahead of the final series, both the youngsters once again scored 9's and tied the match (148-148).

The shoot-offs came down to the battle of inches as both Archers scored X but Fullerton's arrow was much closer to the inner circle compared to the Indian.

In the women's section, reigning world champion Aditi Gopichand Swami and Jyothi Surekha Vennam both crashed out in the quarterfinals. The former lost a tough battle in the shootoffs against Tanja Gellenthien while the latter had an off day as she scored only 144 to Sara Lopez's 149.

Prathamesh Jawker's performance in Archery World Cup final 2023

Quarterfinals - Prathamesh Jawkar beat Miguel Becerra (149-141)

Semifinals - Prathamesh Jawkar beat Mike Schloesser (150-149)

Final - Prathamesh Jawkar lost to Mathias Fullerton (148-148)