At the Incheon 2014 Asian Games, the first continental Games to include compound archery as a competition discipline, India’s Abhishek Verma faced off against Esmaeil Ebadi from Iran for an historic first title.
Ebadi had qualified first with 710 points and Abhishek had ranked seventh ahead of the head-to-head eliminations.
While the top seed rode his favourable slate and a seam of excellent form through the brackets and into the final, never winning a 15-arrow match by less than four points, Abhishek outclassed every opponent that crossed his path, including the second-ranked Korean athlete, Choi Yong Hee.
Abhishek had already won an Asian Games title with his compound men’s team – but couldn’t double the gold count, hitting his lowest total of the event in the final. His 141 wasn’t enough to beat a solid Ebadi 145 – and Iran took something of a surprise gold. (It later turned out to be the start of a successful run for the Iranian compound men, and less of a surprise.)
At Wroclaw 2015, the third stage of the Archery World Cup, Abhishek will have a shot at revenge for that high-profile loss. He’ll face Ebadi in the compound men’s individual final on compound Saturday in Poland.
Abhishek qualified “quite low” in 22nd, Ebadi had a top eight bye as the fifth seed – so neither began the eliminations as heavy favourites. But both won big matches against big names.
Reo Wilde fell to India’s Verma in a third round shoot-off – 10 to 9 – then, just two matches later, Abhishek beat Wilde’s USA teammate Steve Anderson in the semis. Ebadi, meanwhile, was carving a path through Dejan Sitar, Mister Perfect Mike Schloesser and Martin Damsbo.
“He shot really well,” said Martin after his and Esmaeil’s semi. Damsbo had a problem with his release aid and had to drop a drawn arrow into the ground to swap release and get an arrow off in time. The Dane said it put him off his rythmn – but had nothing but words of praise for his Iranian opponent.
Ebadi did still put in a phase-high score of 147 for the 15-arrow match in that semifinal.
Despite the recent history between the pair, and the media frenzy that would accompany an Indian victory back home, Verma was frank and calm about his approach to the match against Ebadi or whatever opponent he faces on the shooting line.
“If I think about the other archer, I lose,” said Verma, straight faced.
That face quickly broke back into the cheeky smile that’s so recognisable from India’s Asian Games silver medallist: “If I win, I’ll be grinning.”
“If you’re happy, then your score will automatically be the highest on the field!”
