Prathamesh Jawkar, Avneet Kaur made it a memorable day for Indian compound archers at the Shanghai 2023 Hyundai Archery World Cup stage 2 on Thursday.
Jawkar and Kaur reached their individual compound semifinal events, defeating the top seeds on the way, and will be shooting for medals at the season’s second World Cup on Saturday.
The conditions were once again tough to shoot and it meant plenty of upsets on compound eliminations day. Only Ella Gibson and Mike Schloesser were the familiar names to reach the final four.
In men’s event, 19-year-old Jawkar, who is competing at his second World Cup, defeated top seed Kim Jongho of Korea, 149-147. “I feel absolutely great,” said Jawkar according to World Archery. “In my mind, I was thinking I needed to keep my composure and stay in the present.”
In the women’s event, 18-year-old Kaur pulled off the shock of the day by overcoming Korea’s Oh Yoohyun, holding off a comeback from the top seed to win the tiebreaker.
“It’s a great moment for me to be in the semifinals,” said Kaur. “This is my best show in individual events and I want to give credit to my coaches and family.”
Jawkar will be up against Robin Jaatma while Kaur will face Gibson in the semifinals on Saturday.
Gold medallist in Antalya, Jyothi Surekha Vennam bowed out in the third round, losing in a shootoff despite shooting a 10. Aditi Gopichand lost in the quarterfinals.
Earlier in the day, the Indian recurve men’s and women’s teams bowed out from their respective disciplines, in the quarterfinals and round of 16 respectively.