Archery Premier League: “Mr. Perfect” Schloesser fires Marathas to a dominant win

Led by Mike Schloesser and anchored by Dhiraj Bommadevara under time pressure, Marathas brought up their first win of the campaign in style. | Photo Credit: SIDDHANT THAKUR

Mighty Marathas registered the first clean sweep of Archery Premier League season 2, beating Chola Chiefs 6-0 at People’s Plaza in Hyderabad on Saturday.

Led by Mike Schloesser and anchored by Dhiraj Bommadevara under time pressure, Marathas brought up their first win of the campaign in style. Schloesser lived up to his ‘Mr. Perfect’ nickname, shooting 10s with all six arrows for Marathas.

Chiefs stuck to their tactic of having their compound archers shoot back-to-back at the start of the set, but Chikitha Taniparthi’s two 9s put a dent in their plans and fell behind. After that, Marathas did enough to comfortably stay ahead and seal the win.

Chero Archers and Prithviraj Yodhas then played out the most nail-biting contest of the evening, with both going toe-to-toe to take the match into a hit-or-miss. There was little to separate the two there too, much to the delight of the packed stands.

For Chero, Kumkum Mohod – featuring for the first time after her Asian Games golden run – hit some impressive arrows but it wasn’t enough for their side. “Mr. Perfect” Schloesser fires Marathas to a dominant APL win

Matias Grande finally managed to find the inner ring, sending Yodhas’ camp into loud celebrations. Pritika Pradeep couldn’t replicate Grade, giving Yodhas a thrilling victory.

In the final match, Kakatiya Knights came from behind to emerge victorious. Neeraj Chauhan was the star for Knights, coming up with clutch X-ring 10s while Jyothi Surekha Vennam was also on fire.

While Mete Gazoz helped Royals take the first set with a pressure 10 in the first set, it was Neeraj and Jyothi who led Knights’ fightback. They, in fact, missed the perfect 80 after Neeraj could only come up with a 9 with the final arrow of the day.

The scores:

Chola Chiefs 0 - 6 Mighty Marathas (73-74, 75-78, 71-74).

Chero Archers 4 - 4 (0-1) Prithviraj Yodhas (64-74, 76-74, 76-75, 71-74).

Rajputana Royals 2 - 6 Kakatiya Knights (75-74, 74-75, 76-77, 74-79).