GWANGJU: Three Indian archers -- Rishabh Yadav, Aman Saini and Prathamesh Fuge -- stormed into the men’s compound individual quarterfinals of the World Archery Championships here on Monday, a day after scripting history with the country’s first-ever team gold.
Fuge, the lowest-ranked Indian qualifier in the men’s compound section with a seeding of 19th, produced the biggest upset of his career by knocking out world number one and 2013 world champion Mike Schloesser of the Netherlands.
The 22-year-old was flawless, shooting a perfect 150 out of 150, hitting 10s with all 15 arrows.
Both archers began in extraordinary fashion, shooting 10s across the first three ends.
But Schloesser finally cracked under pressure, dropping a point in the fourth end. Fuge, showing remarkable composure, continued his run of 10s to clinch the tie and set up a quarterfinal clash with Denmark’s Mathias Fullerton.
Yadav, fresh from his double on Sunday -- team gold and mixed team silver with Jyothi Surekha Vennam ---was also clinical, defeating Estonia’s Robin Jaatma 148-140.
He will now face French world number three and top seed Nicolas Girard.
Saini had to fight harder in his pre-quarterfinal match but held his nerve in the shoot-off stages to edge past France’s Jean Philippe Boulch 144-143.
His next opponent will be Curtis Broadnax of the USA.
With all three Indians placed in different quarters of the draw, the country now stands a realistic chance of a clean sweep in the men’s compound individual section.