Okazaki City (Japan), Sep 25 India’s archers will begin their Asian Games campaign with a blend of proven form, youthful promise and a clear target to better their nine-medal haul from Hangzhou, when competition gets underway at the Okazaki Chuo Sogo Park Multipurpose Square, here on Saturday.
Leading the charge will be Dhiraj Bommadevara, who arrives in Japan fresh from a landmark World Cup Final triumph in Saltillo last week, becoming the first Indian male recurve archer to win the season-ending title.
The 25-year-old’s breakthrough comes after a strong run that also included his maiden World Cup gold in Antalya and the 2025 Asian Archery Championships title.
LA28 Quotas
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The stakes are even higher this time, with six LA28 Olympic quota places available through the Asian Games.
Two places each are on offer in the men’s and women’s individual recurve events, while the recurve mixed team and compound mixed team champions will earn one quota place apiece.
The compound mixed team event is also making its Asian Games debut, adding another layer of significance to the competition.
Dhiraj dominance
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For India, Dhiraj’s individual campaign will be one of the biggest talking points as the Army archer has already shown he can challenge the Korean giants, beating all time great Kim Woojin in the 2023 World Cup Final. Woojin, a two-time gold medalist here, will lead Korean campaign
Korea, as ever, will provide the benchmark, with five-time Olympic Woojin joined by Paris 2024 gold medallists Kim Je Deok and Lee Woo Seok — the same trio that formed Korea’s Olympic-winning men’s team.
Lee Woo Seok also won individual bronze at Hangzhou, while 22-year-old Kim Je Deok returns after winning two World Cup bronze medals across 2025 and 2026.
The quality of the Korean line-up means every Indian arrow in the recurve draw will be tested against Olympic-level opposition.
Dhiraj will also have Yashdeep Bhoge and Neeraj Chauhan alongside him as India seek to build on their historic silver at Hangzhou.
That remains India’s best result in the men’s recurve team event at the Asian Games.
Before that, India had won team bronze at Doha 2006 and Guangzhou 2010.
Women eyeing history too
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The women’s recurve team also enters with perhaps India’s strongest recent international result.
Ankita Bhakat, Kumkum Anil Mohod and Kirti Sharma will look to carry the confidence of the Shanghai World Cup, where India defeated Korea in the semifinals before edging China in a dramatic final to claim gold.
It was India’s first World Cup gold in the women’s recurve team event since Paris 2021.
Ankita will spearhead that challenge, with the world No. 20 having established herself as one of India’s most dependable recurve archers.
The team will also be conscious of history as India have yet to win an individual women’s recurve medal at the Asian Games, while their best team result is bronze, achieved at Guangzhou 2010 and repeated at Hangzhou in 2023.
The absence of Deepika Kumari, a former world No. 1 and one of India’s most accomplished recurve archers, will nevertheless be felt.
She missed the Asian Games team after finishing fourth in the selection trials. Deepika had been part of India’s historic women’s team bronze at Guangzhou 2010.
Compound effect
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India’s compound campaign will be watched just as closely, although this time the team will be without several of the names that powered the historic Hangzhou clean sweep.
At Hangzhou, Indian compound archers won all five gold medals on offer, with Ojas Deotale and Jyothi Surekha Vennam among the standout performers.
Deotale, who won three gold in Hangzhou, as well as Aditi Swami and veteran Abhishek Verma, missed out on the Asian Games squad after the trials.
In their place comes a younger group led by veteran Jyothi, with Prithika Pradeep adding fresh momentum after a World Cup bronze in Madrid.
The men’s compound team is similarly youthful, with Sahil Jadhav, the reigning World University Games champion, having won his maiden World Cup medal with bronze in Shanghai, alongside 21-year-old Kushal Dalal and Ganesh Thiru Muru.
Coach Jiwanjot Singh remains confident that the younger generation can handle the pressure, pointing to the fact that even Hangzhou stars such as Deotale and Swami were making their Asian Games debuts there.
“Archery is a precision sport, so there are ups and downs, but we have been shooting well,” Jiwanjot told PTI.
“We don’t have Ojas, Aditi and Abhishek, but they missed out in the trials because youngsters performed better. That shows India’s depth.”
“With Dhiraj in peak form and the women’s team coming off World Cup gold, we should have a better show in recurve. We also have full confidence in the compound archers to replicate the five medals from Hangzhou, and if that happens, we should be on course to surpass the nine-medal mark.”
Teams
Recurve men: Dhiraj Bommadevara, Neeraj Chauhan, Yashdeep Bhoge.
Recurve women: Ankita Bhakat, Kumkum Mohod and Kirti Sharma.
Compound men: Sahil Jadhav, Kushal Dalal and Ganesh Mani Ratnam Thirumuru.
Compound women: Jyothi Surekha Vennam, Chikitha Taniparthi and Prithika Pradeep.
(PTI News)
