Kolkata: India’s compound archers once again hogged the limelight as Rishabh Yadav and Jothi Surekha Venam led the country’s magnificent shows to sow top in both personal and team programs in the fourth and final stages of the Archery World Cup in Madrid on Tuesday. Twenty-two-year-old Yadav not only topped the men’s qualifying, but also set a world record for scoring 1431 with the top seed Venum of women and crossed the previous mixed team world record of 1429, which after Denmark’s Tanja Galenthane and Mathius Fullarton after Krako-Malapolska 2023 European Games. “This is special because the (compound) mixed team is added to the Olympics,” Yadav said. “We have not shot the mixed team together in the last two phases, but now we are back. We are happy with the continuity we are with, ”Yadav, who also won the mixed team Gold with Jyoti in the season opener in Florida. Asian Sports Champion Venam topped the Women’s section with a score of 715 points while ruling. Yadav led the 85-Athlete region from beginning to end at Valahrmoso Stadium and hit 716, his highest score on the international circuit, 68 of his 72 arrows hit 10-rings, including 35 x. Venam’s women’s team, Parneet Kaur and 16-year-old debut Prithika Pradeep later received L Salvador (235-226) and Indonesia (230–226) to install a summit clash with Chinese Taipei. The men’s team of Yadav, Priyash and Comeback Man Aman Saini, however, lost to France 233-234 in the quarter-finals.
