Swati wins bronze in seniors; Shivani in juniors in women's national archery

New Delhi, May 2 (IANS) Rajasthan's Swati Dudhwal won the bronze medal in the senior category, while Shivani secured bronze in the junior category in the 3rd NTPC Khelo India Women’s National Ranking Archery Tournament was held in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, on May 1 to 2.

In the senior ranking round, Swati Dudhwal, who was part of the Indian women's compound archery team along with world champion Jyothi Surekha Vennam, who won the gold medal in the World Archery University Championships in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, in 2016, scored 681 points, placing her 10th.

In the individual events, she won her first match against Jaspreet (Railways) 148-145 and then defeated Prabhjot Kaur (Punjab) 147-143 in the quarterfinals of the event that was inaugurated on April 30 at the Ankur Ground in the Madhya Pradesh capital.

She narrowly lost the semifinal to Akshita (Delhi) 145-146. In the bronze medal match, she overcame Srishti (Madhya Pradesh) 146-143 to earn the bronze medal for Rajasthan.

In the junior category, Shivani scored 666 in the ranking round, also securing 10th place. In the individual matches, she defeated Samiksha (Delhi) 142-132 in the first round and Nikita (Haryana) 141-138 in the quarterfinals.

Her semifinal against Kiranpreet (Haryana) ended in a 141-141 tie, where she narrowly lost 9-9 in the shoot-off. In the bronze medal match, Shivani beat Tanya Rani (Haryana) 143-141, clinching the bronze for Rajasthan, according to information received here on Friday.

Earlier, the initial ranking rounds saw 130 women archers participating in the senior category's recurve and compound archery events during the first session. In the second session, 120 junior category women archers participated, including accomplished national and international level recurve and compound competitors who showcased their skills.

The third session included 25 sub-junior category participants in recurve and compound disciplines who successfully achieved the qualifying scores.

--IANS

hs/bsk/