Okazaki: India completed a clean sweep of all three compound archery team gold medals on offer at the Asian Games on Wednesday, underlining the country’s dominance in the discipline with victories in the women’s team, mixed team and men’s team events.
The unprecedented haul began with the women’s trio of Chikitha Taniparthi, Prithika Pradeep and Jyothi Surekha Vennam successfully defending their title, before Chikitha and Sahil Jadhav secured a dramatic mixed team victory over South Korea. The men’s trio of Kushal Dalal, Sahil Jadhav and Ganesh Mani Ratnam Thirumuru then completed the sweep by edging China in a thrilling final.
It was a day in which India produced three victories through three distinctly different contests, a world-record-equalling performance in the women’s team final, a shoot-off thriller in the mixed team event and a dramatic comeback in the men’s team final.
The women’s team set the tone by defeating China 238-234. India, which had won silver in 2018 and bronze in 2014, successfully retained the gold it had claimed at the previous edition.
The Indian trio matched the world record of 238 set by South Korea at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon. After establishing an early advantage, Chikitha, Prithika and Jyothi maintained their composure through the latter stages, producing a perfect final end to deny China any opportunity to close the gap.
The mixed team final that followed was considerably more dramatic. Chikitha and Sahil were locked at 157-157 with South Korea’s Park Jungyoon and Choi Yonghee after the regulation contest. With the gold to be decided by a shoot-off, Chikitha and Sahil both found the 10-ring, while Choi could manage only a nine, handing India another gold.
The victory also secured India a quota place for the mixed team event at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics, where compound archery is set to make its Olympic debut.
Chikitha claimed her second gold of the Games, having already featured in the women’s team triumph, while Sahil added his first gold.
India then completed the sweep in the men’s team final, where China appeared to have control for much of the contest.
Kushal, Sahil, and Ganesh trailed 58-60 after the opening end and were still two points behind at the halfway stage. China extended its advantage to 179-178 after three ends, leaving India with little room for error.
The Indian trio responded with a perfect final end. China, meanwhile, dropped an eight with its opening arrow, allowing India to overturn the deficit and establish a lead that ultimately proved decisive. China produced three successive 10s to finish, but the damage had already been done as India prevailed 238-237.
The men’s victory completed India’s hat-trick of compound gold medals on a day when the country’s archers repeatedly demonstrated their ability to deliver under pressure.
The clean sweep also extends India’s remarkable record in compound archery at the Asian Games. At Hangzhou 2023, Indian compound archers won all five gold medals available in the discipline, while the recurve teams contributed a silver and a bronze.
With Wednesday’s three golds, India have once again underlined their status as the dominant force in Asian Games compound archery. The focus now shifts to the individual events, with Ganesh and Chikitha, among the Indian archers, scheduled to compete in the individual quarterfinals on Thursday.
For a discipline that is still awaiting its Olympic debut, India’s performance in Okazaki has added another significant chapter to its Asian Games success story.
(IANS)
