India's teenage sensation Prithika Pradeep made a stunning comeback to clinch her maiden Archery World Cup bronze medal in Madrid.
Key Points
- Teenage Indian archer Prithika Pradeep won her maiden individual World Cup bronze medal.
- She defeated world No. 11 Hazal Burun of Turkey in a thrilling comeback.
- Prithika also contributed to India's women's compound team silver medal.
Teenage compound archer Prithika Pradeep displayed remarkable composure in a superb comeback win over World No. 11 Hazal Burun of Turkey, clinching her maiden Archery World Cup individual medal and completed a memorable double at Stage 4 in Madrid on Saturday.
The 17-year-old, who had earlier played a key role in India winning the women's compound team silver, capped a breakthrough tournament by standing firm in her maiden World Cup medal match and winning it 145-142 after trailing in the first end.
It also marked an impressive start under celebrated American compound coach Dave Cousins, who joined the Indian setup just before the Madrid World Cup.
Earlier, Prithika was India's standout performer in the women's compound team final, where she consistently found the 10-ring even as the experienced duo of Jyothi Surekha Vennam and Chikitha Taniparthi struggled for rhythm.
Prithika's Path To Bronze And Team Silver
India failed to produce their best at crucial moments and went down 228-232 to a dominant Colombia, settling for the silver medal.
India finished their compound campaign with two medals and remained in contention for two more in the recurve section on Sunday.
Another teenager, Kirti Sharma, who made her World Cup debut in Antalya last month, will also be eyeing a double.
She will partner India No. 1 Dhiraj Bommadevara in the recurve mixed team bronze-medal playoff and also needs one more win in the women's individual event after advancing to the semi-finals.
In the women's compound individual event, Prithika had missed out on a place in the final after losing 142-144 to Malaysia's Fatin Nurfatehah Mat Salleh in the semi-final, setting up a bronze-medal clash with Hazal.
Playing back-to-back matches after her loss in the semis, Prithika looked understandably tense as Hazal opened with three successive 10s, while the Indian dropped an eight to trail 28-30 after the opening end.
With Cousins calmly guiding her from behind the shooting line, Prithika gradually settled into her rhythm.
She won the second end 29-28 to reduce the deficit to one point before producing a flawless third end of three 10s to draw level at 87-all.
The momentum then shifted decisively in the Indian's favour.
Hazal cracked under pressure, her final arrow of the fourth end drifting into the seven-ring, while Prithika conceded just one point to claim it 29-26 and open up a three-point cushion heading into the final three arrows.
Hazal responded with two 10s to finish on 142, leaving Prithika, on 135 after two arrows, in need of an eight with her final shot to secure the bronze.
The teenager, however, showed nerves of steel, drilling a perfect X-ring 10 to seal a 145-142 victory and her maiden World Cup medal in emphatic fashion.
