Prachi, Tamimul win Commonwealth Youth Games

Prachi Singh’s 620-point 60-metre ranking round and top seeding gave her a ticket to the quarterfinals of the Commonwealth Youth Games in Apia, Samoa. There, she beat host nation athlete Jil Walter, 6-4.

The young Indian athlete then got past Nondiny Khan Shopna, from Bangladesh, without dropping a set, to set up a final against Elizabeth Warner.

Englishwoman Warner had qualified as the second seed. Top ranked Prachi took gold in four sets, 6-2.

Shopna took bronze by the same scoreline over Malaysian athlete Nuramalina Haneesha Mazlan.

India also had the top seeded archer in the boys’ competition. Nishant Kumawat had posted 24 points more than his nearest competitor over the ranking round, with a total of 656 points.

He continued the form into matchplay.

Nishant’s first opponent, Wales’ Ryan Pinder, was subjected to a three-set series of 29, 30 and 28 points, and failed to make a dent in the Indian archer’s scorecard en-route to a 6-0 loss.

His second challenger fell, too, 7-3 – and Nishant Kumawat made a final against Tamimul Islam Mohammad.

The pair drew after the regulation five sets – and the gold medal match went to a one-arrow shoot-off. Bangladesh’s Tamimul had already won one shoot-off in the brackets, in the quarterfinals, against Namibian athlete Xander Reddig, when both athletes shot a 10 with their single arrows and the decision was made on a measure.

In the final, both Tamimul and Nishant shot nine. Tamimul’s was closer to the middle.

The bronze final went to a tiebreaker, too. Martin Chayse’s nine was better than an eight from Tongan athlete Arne Jensen – and the last spot on the boy’s podium went to New Zealand.

Samoa 2015 marked the fifth edition of the Commonwealth Youth Games, a multi-sport event that plays a “vital part in the [Commonwealth Games] Federation’s vision to inspire Commonwealth athletes to drive the ambition and power of all Commonwealth citizens through sport.”