Indian archer Prathamesh Jawkar secures silver at Archery World Cup finals

Prathamesh Jawkar, an Indian compound archer, concluded his maiden appearance at the 'World Cup Final' with an impressive silver medal.

His remarkable journey came to a close as he narrowly lost to Denmark's Mathias Fullerton in a thrilling shoot-off finish.

Jawkar, who had previously stunned world No. 1 and reigning champion Mike Schloesser to reach the final, ultimately fell short, with Fullerton securing the victory by the smallest of margins.

In a closely contested final, Jawkar and Fullerton both scored 148-148 (10-10*) points, leading to a shoot-off.

The Denmark archer emerged as the winner due to his arrow being slightly closer to the center. Fullerton initially gained an advantage in the opening round of the final, and Jawkar trailed 89-90 midway through the match. However, Jawkar made a remarkable comeback by scoring a perfect 30 points in one round, leveling the score at 119-all heading into the last round.

The final round ended with both archers shooting identical scores of 29, resulting in a shoot-off. The tiebreaker also ended in a stalemate, with Fullerton narrowly outperforming Jawkar, leading to the Danish archer's victory.

In the semi-final, Jawkar displayed flawless shooting, achieving a perfect score of 150 out of 150 points. This exceptional performance allowed him to narrowly defeat Schloesser by one point, denying the Dutchman a hattrick of World Cup Final titles. Schloesser is a four-time winner of the 'World Cup Final' (2016, 2019, 2021, and 2022).

Notably, Jawkar had previously defeated Schloesser in the final of the Shanghai World Cup in May, further solidifying his victory over the Dutch heavyweight. In the bronze medal playoff, Schloesser redeemed himself by defeating India's Abhishek Verma 150-149.

Jawkar's journey to the silver medal began with a strong performance in the quarterfinals, where he eliminated host nation representative Miguel Becerra with a score of 149-141. However, it was in the penultimate round that Jawkar missed the center once out of 15 arrows.

While Prathamesh Jawkar showcased his excellence in the competition, Indian women compound archers Aditi Swami and Jyothi Surekha Vennam faced disappointment as they lost in their respective opening round matches. Jyothi Surekha Vennam fell to Colombian archer Sara Lopez, who eventually became the champion.

Reigning world champion Aditi Swami, just 17 years old, faced Tanja Gellenthien of Denmark and lost in a shoot-off. Despite her age, Swami displayed great promise in the competition.

India will be represented by Dhiraj Bommadevara in the recurve section, facing Korean archer Kim Woojin in a challenging opening round match. However, no Indian archers qualified for the women's recurve section in this year's event.

This year marks the first time that five Indian archers have qualified for the prestigious year-end World Cup Finals, showcasing the growing talent and potential in Indian archery.