Asian Games: Trisha, Verma in semi-finals of compound archery

Indian archers Abhishek Verma and Trisha Deb qualified for the semi-finals of the individual compound event in the 17th Asian Games here Thursday.

Verma beat South Korean Yonghee Choi 147-142 in the quarterfinals, while Trisha comprehensively defeated Iranian Shabnam Sarlak 142-131.

Verma will next face Malaysian Muhammad Zaki Bin Mahazan while Trisha will take on South Korean Jihyun Seok in the semifinals. A win in the semifinals will assure the Indian duo of a place in the gold medal match.

Earlier in the day, Verma had beaten Mongolian Jamiyangombo Purevdorj 146-144 in the first round and followed it up with a 148-143 win over Vietnamese Tien Cuong Nguyen in the pre-quarterfinals.

Trisha started the day with a 146-140 win over Japan's Yumiko Honda in the pre-quarterfinal. The Indian girl shot 11 10's and four X's while Yumiko had seven 10's and 5 X's.

Among other Indians in fray, both Sandeep Kumar and Purvasha Shende lost their quarterfinal encounters. Kumar went down 135-141 to Filipino Paul Marton Dela Cruz while Purvasha was beaten 140-143 by South Korean Jihyun Seok.