Asian Games 2023: Ojas Pravin Deotale clinches gold, Abhishek Verma settles for silver in men's compound archery

Ojas Deotale has secured three gold medals in the ongoing Continental meet.

Two more medals were added by the Indian archery contingent at the Hangzhou Asian Games 2023. Ojas Pravin Deotale and Abhishek Verma clinched gold and silver medals respectively in the men’s compound individual event.

In the final, two Indian archers found themselves competing against each other, both vying for gold medal on offer. The initial series of arrows concluded with both Ojas and Abhishek achieving a flawless score of 30.

In the subsequent round, Abhishek secured one point less than Ojas as he attained only 29 points while Ojas secured another perfect score of 30. With Abhishek having a total of 59 points and Ojas with 60 points, the competition was finely balanced to determine the eventual victor.

In the third round, Ojas once again demonstrated his prowess by securing an additional 30 points, while Abhishek settled for a score of 28. However, Abhishek made a remarkable comeback in the fourth round, achieving a perfect score of 30 points. Consequently, the 33-year-old narrowed the gap to two points, concluding the round with a total of 117 points compared to Ojas' 119 points, who was still leading in the encounter.

In the concluding round of the competition, both participants once again achieved an impeccable score of 30. However, due to his leading performance in the previous rounds, Ojas was proclaimed the winner of the game, securing his third gold medal at the Asian Games 2023, while Abhishek Verma settled for a well-deserved silver - his second silver across all edition of Asiad's in singles.

The attainment of these two medals not only propelled India's overall medal count to 99 but also positioned the archery contingent atop the rankings in the sport's medal tally at the Asian Games 2023.

India has secured a total of nine medals in archery, while South Korea has earned 11 medals. However, India's five gold medals surpass Korea's four, thereby placing India at the top of the archery medal standings.