In one of the Vegas Shoot's noblest traditions, 42 archers who had scored 899 competed for just one place in the final Championship shootdown.
While 42 archers from around the USA and the world battled it out, in the end, Ojas beat his Indian teammate Abishek Verma for the place in the final shootdown. "I feel very lucky right now. It was a nice thing that two Indians were competing with each other. It didn't feel like competing, it was just 'he's my teammate, let's go!". "The last arrow I was not sure if I'd won or not, but I came [to the bale] and I was like oh s***, I won!"
As usual, the first end of the Lucky Dog must be a standard X to continue, but any subsequent arrows must be 'inside out' tens. Most archers use 'skinny' arrows, and often, a separate sight to maximise the advantage. By the second end, ten shooters remained, by the third there were just two, both from India: Ojas Pravin Deotale and Abishek Verma. Both had experience making it through similar lineups: Verma had made the last two in the in the $10k shootoff the previous day, while Deotale was a $10k shootoff winner in 2024. It turned out to be a classic. Both missed the third, then both drilled inside out X's in the fourth. In the fifth, both missed again, with each arrow touching the line. The same happened in the sixth end, after a check with the magnifying glass. In the seventh, Verma shot low, Deotale high. But in the eighth, Deotale nailed the inside out ten, and would be heading for the shootdown – and receive the coveted Lucky Dog trophy.
Deotale placed 4th at the Vegas Shoot in 2024, with his biggest international win being the Asian Games individual title in 2022. Notably, both Deotale and Verma have been trained as part of the Indian team by Sergio Pagni, twice a Vegas winner – and once from the Lucky Dog position.
The 22-year-old Deotale's win in the Lucky Dog shoot-off not only adds a significant achievement to his archery journey but sets him up for a shot at $50,000 in Sunday's shootdown.
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