Dhaka: The Indian men’s recurve and women’s compound archery teams have progressed to the final of the Asian Archery Championships held in Dhaka on Monday. The men’s recurve team, seeded second, which includes Yashdeep Sanjay Bhoge, Atanu Das, and Rahul, triumphed over Kazakhstan with a score of 5-3, setting up a final match against South Korea, who defeated Uzbekistan 6-2 in the semifinals. The men’s team began their campaign with a strong 6-2 win against Turkmenistan, followed by a dominant 6-0 victory over Malaysia in the quarter-finals. In the qualification round, Bhoge recorded a personal best score of 687 points, featuring nine X10s.
At 25 years old, his only prior international medal was won in the mixed team event at the 2019 Asia Cup in Bangkok. Experienced archer Atanu Das finished seventh with a score of 668 points, while Rahul placed 11th with 666 points. The women’s team, consisting of Jyothi Surekha Vennam, Prithika Pradeep, and Deepsikha, overcame the host nation Bangladesh with a score of 234-227 in the semifinals, advancing to face South Korea, who defeated Iran 237-227. The top-seeded women’s team began their journey with a 235-225 victory over Vietnam in the quarter-finals and then secured a win against Bangladesh in the semifinals.
In the qualification rounds, Deepsikha led with a score of 705, closely followed by world number two Jyothi Surekha Vennam with 703. Promising talents Prithika Pradeep and Chikitha Taniparthi also performed well, scoring 702 and 701 respectively, with just one point separating them. The Asian Archery Championships will continue on Tuesday with individual and team eliminations, lasting throughout the week. The compound finals are set for Thursday and the recurve finals for Friday. A total of 207 archers from 29 countries are vying for continental honors across 10 events at the National Stadium in Dhaka. India’s veteran archer Deepika Kumari is aiming for her first gold medal of the season after securing bronze in Shanghai.
