New Delhi: Three years ago, when Indian archers returned from the Hangzhou Asian Games with nine medals (5 gold, 2 silver, 2 bronze), few would have expected them to repeat the performance. The 12-member archery team matched that medal count in Japan, including carving a slice of history by ending the Korean monopoly in the sport.
A look at the medallists:
Gold: Compound men’s team
The trio of Kushal Dalal, Sahil Jadhav and Gamesh Thirumuru beat UAE, Bhutan, Korea, and China to win the top prize. The final was a tense affair with the Indians rallying to defeat China 238-237, an 8 from a Chinese bow in the last set dragged them down. The Indians produced 10s and Xs with fine frequency, even against South Korea in their 236-229 semi-final win.
Gold: Compound women’s team
Jyothi Surekha Vennam, Prithika Pradeep and Chikitha Taniparthi accounted for Kazakhstan (233-230), Korea (234-233) and China (238-234) on the way to team gold, firmly underlining India’s compound strength. “I was really having a good time shooting in the final,” Jyothi, India’s most experienced and accomplished compound archer, told HT. “I was just happy and not worried about anything else. I wanted to be there for the team, and for the team to do well.”
Gold: Compound mixed team
India defeated Mongolia (160-146), Kazakhstan (159-154), Thailand (156-155) to set up a final against heavyweights Korea. With both teams tied at 157, the match went into a shoot-off where India prevailed 20-19. Trailing slightly under pressure, Chikitha shot a 10 and Sahil followed with a 10 in the shoot-off, while the Korean pair managed a 10 and a 9.
Gold: Recurve women’s team
Kumkum Mohod, Ankita Bhakat, and Kirti Sharma defeated Korea 5-3 in the final, a result that’s bound to be remembered for a long time. Two of them, 17-year-old Kumkum and 19-year-old Kirti, were in their first Asian Games. Kumkum’s father, who runs a sweet box manufacturing business and was busy distributing sweets himself on Friday, wanted his daughter to pick up archery. Kirti’s father, a farmer in Haryana, hesitantly sent his daughter to the SAI centre in Hazaribagh with coach Udham Singh so that she could pursue the sport she was good at without even once watching her compete. Ankita, 28, part of the 2023 bronze-winning team, has been India’s most consistent female recurve archer over the last few years but sought a big-stage medal.
Gold: Recurve women’s individual
Kumkum Mohod, the 17-year-old from Amravati, became India’s first recurve champion in Asian Games history, defeating South Korea’s Oh Yejin in a thrilling shoot-off victory and securing an early quota spot for India for the 2028 LA Olympics. No Indian woman had ever won an individual medal in recurve in the sport’s most challenging continental event. Kumkum turned up at her first Asian Games and grabbed the gold. She will depart from Aichi-Nagoya with three: an individual gold, a team gold, and a mixed team silver.
Silver: Recurve men’s team
Dhiraj Bommadevara, Sanjay Bhoge and Neeraj Chauhan lost to Korea 1-5 to settle for silver but not before beating the Philippines, China and Iran for a commanding run to the final.
Silver: Recurve mixed team
A couple of hours after the Indian women’s team took the historic gold, the mixed recurve team of Dhiraj Bommadevara and Kumkum Mohod backed it up by adding the silver at the Aichi-Nagoya Games on Friday. The Indian combine lost to China 5-3 in the final after beating Japan in the semi-final to fall one step short of securing an early quota for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. This is India’s first medal in the mixed team recurve event, which became part of the Asian Games programme from 2018.
Bronze: Compound men’s individual
Ganesh Thirumuru backed up his men’s team gold with an individual bronze. After losing to South Korea’s Kim Jong-ho in the semi-final, Ganesh bounced back brilliantly in the bronze medal match to defeat Vietnam’s Dang Cong Duc 149-144. The Indian fired all 10s through the first three ends, his first and only 9 came off his 11th shot of the 15-shot contest. With a three-point lead heading into the final end, it was enough to secure the bronze.
Bronze: Recurve men’s individual
Neeraj Chauhan captured India’s first individual men’s recurve archery medal in 16 years, winning the bronze medal at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Saturday. In the all-India bronze clash between two of the country’s silver-winning team members from a couple of days ago, Chauhan came out on top against his higher-seeded and more experienced compatriot Dhiraj Bommadevara 6-4. The 24-year-old from Meerut became only the second Indian male to win an Asian Games individual recurve medal after Tarundeep Rai’s silver in the 2010 Guangzhou edition.
