Medellin (Colombia), Jun 18 (IANS): Ace archer Abhishek Verma clinched the gold medal in the men's compound individual event at the World Cup Stage 3 here.
The 33-year-old Abhishek, competing in his first World Cup of the year, defeated the 2019 world champion James Lutz of the USA 148-146 in a close final on Saturday.
Abhishek, seeded eighth, got the better of world No. 1 and top-seed Mike Schloesser of the Netherlands in a shoot-off after scores were tied 148-148 in the quarter-finals.
The Indian was onto the range in the semifinals and strolled past Luccas Abreu of Brazil with an assured 148-143 victory to set up a third individual World Cup stage final.
He would have been fearing the worst when USA's Lutz delivered a perfect score of 150 to beat countryman Nick Kappers. But he kept his cool to strike gold and ensure he joins Prathamesh Samadhan Jawkar at September's finals in Mexico, after the teenage sensation topped the rostrum in Shanghai.
"I'm very happy, I was remembering the good old days. It doesn't matter who your opponent is, I just wanted to focus on my shooting and give my best. I'm excited and looking forward to the final," Abhishek told World Archery.
This was Abhishek's third individual World Cup gold. Previously, he bagged gold in Wroclaw, Poland, in 2015 and Paris, France in 2021. Moreover, he also has silver and a bronze in the individual event.
So far, India have won one gold and three bronze medals at the Archery World Cup 2023 stage 3.
Earlier in the tournament, men's compound team of Abhishek Verma, Ojas Pravin Deotale, Prathamesh Jawkar and the Indian women's compound team comprising Aditi Swami, Jyothi Surekha Vennam, Parneet Kaur won bronze medals on Wednesday.
The men's recurve team of Dhiraj Bommadevara, Mrinal Chauhan and Tushar Shelke clinched a bronze medal on Thursday.