Yankton: Another final in the World Archery Championships and another Indian had to settle for the silver medal as Jyothi Surekha Vennam lost to Sara Lopez of Colombia in the Compound Women Individual final here on Saturday. No Indian has ever won a gold medal in the World Championship, finishing second six times in the past.
Jyothi, who had won silver medals in the Compound Women's Team competition and Compound Mixed Team event on Friday, lost to the Colombian archer, the world No 1 in compound section, 146-144 in the 15-arrow final in South Dakota.
The 25-year-old from Vijaywada in Andhra Pradesh, who had done brilliantly to reach the final, trailed by one point (28-29) after the first end as she shot two 9s and a 10 in her three arrows while Sara had a 10, X, and a 9. Both archers shot 29 each in the second end and Sara thus maintained her one-point lead (58-57).
Sara shot a perfect 30 of the three arrows in the third end while Jyothi managed a 10, X, and 9 for 29, thus trailing by two points after nine arrows (88-86). The Indian conceded one more point in the fourth end, losing it 29-28. She won the fifth and final end 30-29, scoring a perfect 30 (10, 10, X) as compared to 29 by Sara (9, X, X), thus losing the final by two points.
This was Jyothi's best-ever performance in the World Archery Championships as she finished the competition with three silver medals.
Earlier in the day, Jyothi had reached the final by beating Mexico's Andrea Recerra 148-146 in the semi-finals. She had defeated Amanda Mlinaric of Croatia 150-144 in the quarter-finals.