Prathamesh Samadhan Jawkar (Maharashtra) and Pragati Choudhary (Delhi) emerged men and women’s Compound Archery champions respectively in the 41st NTPC National Junior Championships in Dehradun on Friday. For Pragati, success tasted sweeter since he had suffered a brain stroke in May 2020 and rallied to make it to the Indian team earlier this month.
According to information available, Prathamesh Jawkar beat Delhi’s Priyansh 147-143 while Pragati defeated Parneet Kaur 146-144 in the men and women’s finals. Prathamesh Bhalachandra Fuge (Maharashtra) and Keerthana Ramesh (Karnataka) won the men and women’s bronze medal matches.
To her credit, 17-year-old Pragati Choudhary embraced consistency, topping the ranking round with 696. The 48 10s helped her edge ahead of Parneet Kaur. The Punjab archer who was competing under the Archery Association of India colours had a similar scored but with one 10 less. It was fitting that they clashed in the final and only two points separated the pair which trains under Surender Singh Randhawa in the Khelo India camp.
The manner in which she soaked in the pressure of her own expectation – especially after doing well in the selection trials for the senior team earlier this month – was praiseworthy. “I was keen to sustain my performance in the Junior National Championships. I shot pretty well and did not face any pressure, even when playing against Parneet Kaur,” she said.
Prathamesh Jawkar, who hails from Buldana district and is trained by Chandrakant Elag, did not carry the baggage from the ranking round where he finished outside the top five with a score of 697 points. In the knockout matches, the 17-year-old focused on his shooting to win the contests, overcoming a tough situation where he was trailing Rajesh Bishnoi (Rajasthan) in the quarterfinals.
“I did not think about winning and losing,” said the farmer’s son who posted some interesting, creative YouTube videos during the lockdown last year. “I was focused on my own game. It did not matter to me who I was playing. It was just the target and me.” Indeed, his progress to the national crown was smooth and will have given him immense confidence
Haryana’s Rishabh Yadav, the Under-21 champion in the Khelo India Youth Games in Guwahati, topped the men’s ranking round 707 points. Kunderu Venkatadri (Andhra Pradesh), an under-17 bronze medal winner in Guwahati, was second with 702. Along with Rajesh Bishnoi, who scored 701 in the ranking round, they were unable to get even to the semifinals.
The results
Men:
Final: Prathamesh Samadhan Jawkar (Maharashtra) beat Priyansh (Delhi) 147-143; Bronze medal: Prathamesh Bhalachandra Fuge (Maharashtra). Ranking round: 1. Rishabh Yadav (Haryana) 707; 2. Kunderu Venkatadri (Andhra Pradesh) 702; 3. Rajesh Bishnoi (Rajasthan) 701.
Team: 1. Haryana (Rishabh Yadav, Mayank Rawat, Harsh Parashar and Digvijay Dhayal) 232 (29*); 2. Maharashtra (Prathamesh Samadhan Jawkar, Prathamesh Bhalachandra Fuge, Ojas Pravin Deotale and Parth Sunil Korde) 232 (29); 3. Delhi (Ritik Chahal, Priyansh, Madhur Kaushik and Yash Raj Dubey) 231.
Women:
Final: Pragati Choudhary (Delhi) beat Parneet Kaur (Archery Association of India) 146-144; Bronze medal: Keerthana Ramesh (Karnataka). Ranking round: 1. Pragati (Delhi) 696 (48); 2. Parneet Kaur (Archery Association of India) 696 (47); 3. Priya Gurjar (Rajasthan) 692.
Team: 1. Maharashtra (Mohini Arvind Ambore, Sanradny Dhanraj Raulkar, Isha Ketan Pawar and Payal Sagar Suryawanshi) 225; 2. Madhya Pradesh (Arshya Chaudhary, Nikita Dagar, Anuradha Ahirwar and Lakshita Firke) 222; 3. Archery Association of India (Parneet Kaur, Avneet Kaur, Sujata, Loverose Preet Kaur) 223.
Mixed team: 1. Rajasthan (Priya Gurjar and Rajesh Bishnoi) 153 (20); 2. Haryana (Divya Dhahal and Rishabh Yadav) 153 (19); 3. Delhi (Pragati Choudhary and Ritik Chahal) 152.
Image: File photo of Pragati Choudhary from Khelo India Youth Games 2019
