Zhao pegged Mather back, after the American burst into a 4-0 lead. 

Mather outscoed his opponent by six across the opening two rounds, securing himself a 4-0 lead as two points are awarded for each round won.

Zhao bounced back by drawing the third and winning the fourth, meaning a victory in the final round would take the match to a shoot-off.

However, a draw in the final set was enough to seal the gold medal for the Mather, on the penultimate day of archery.

Harvinder Singh gave India a bronze medal in the men's individual recurve, following a shoot-off victory against South Korea's Kim Min-su.

He was pulled back by Kim in the final round, before he scored 10 with a single arrow to Kim's eight. 

Earlier in the competition, Mather defeated Singh 6-4 in the semi-final, while Kim narrowly lost to Zhao 6-5 in a tense shoot-off in which the Chinese athlete scored a sensational 10.

In the final day of competition tomorrow, China will look to defend their mixed team recurve title.