Antalya World Cup: Priyansh advances to the semifinals of the men's compound event

Indian compound archer Priyansh continued his impressive form, securing his second semifinal appearance at the Archery World Cup in 2024. On Thursday, he advanced to the top 4 of the Antalya World Cup after an outstanding performance in the elimination round.

Priyansh displayed excellent and consistent shooting throughout, with four consecutive scores of 149, ensuring his place in the semifinals. In the quarterfinals, he defeated home favorite Batuhan Akcaoglu with a score of 149-147.

This achievement also bolsters his chances of qualifying for his first World Cup Final. Entering the elimination round as the fourth seed, Priyansh had notable victories, including a narrow 149-148 win against compatriot Prathamesh Fuge in the third round.

In the semifinals on Saturday, Priyansh will face top-seeded Mathias Fullerton of Denmark, aiming to improve upon his silver medal from the Shanghai World Cup.

Meanwhile, the team's most experienced archer, Abhishek Verma, was eliminated in the third round of the competition. This loss also concluded his season, as he failed to qualify for the World Cup Final.

Horrid show in Women's Compound

Indian women's compound archers have been consistently strong in team events, but they have struggled to replicate this success in individual elimination rounds. They have now failed to reach the semifinals of a World Cup for the second consecutive time.

Jyothi Surekha Vennam was once again the best performer for India, but she lost a close third-round match to Italy's Elisa Roner. World champion Aditi Swami and Parneet Kaur were both eliminated in the second round.

One step closer to Paris Olympics

Earlier, the women's recurve team delivered an impressive performance but missed out on a medal, losing 0-6 to Japan in the bronze medal match. Despite this, their performance has brought them one step closer to securing a ranking quota spot for the Paris Olympics.

This means that, after a 12-year wait, India will now have a full squad of six members at the Olympics, as the men's team has already confirmed their ranking quota spot thanks to their strong performances over the past year.