Indian archer Ankita Bhakat delivered the biggest victory of her career on Friday, defeating Paris Olympics silver-medallist Nam Suhyeon of South Korea 7-3 in a tense five-set final to clinch the women’s recurve gold at the Asian Archery Championships.
India added another medal in the event after Sangeeta secured the women’s recurve bronze, edging past veteran five-time Olympian Deepika Kumari 6-5 in a dramatic shoot-off.
Earlier in the day, Ankita had eliminated her longtime senior teammate and former world No. 1 Deepika Kumari in the semifinals.
Their semifinal clash went down to the wire. With the scores locked at 5-5, both archers shot a nine in the shoot-off, but Ankita’s arrow landed closer to the centre, propelling her into the final.
Ankita started the title match with authority, hitting two 10s to take the opening set 29-27. The second set ended in a scrappy 27-27 draw, with both archers faltering-Ankita dipping to an 8 and Nam to a 7.
Nam bounced back to level the contest by taking the third set 28-26, as Ankita failed to register a single 10. But the Indian regained control in the fourth set, striking two more 10s to win the set 29-28 and move ahead 5-3.
Displaying remarkable composure in the decider, Ankita once again delivered two 10s to seal the gold medal-an emphatic breakthrough triumph against one of Asia’s most consistent and formidable archers.