A 13-year wait ended in archery on Friday when the Indian men’s and women’s teams surpassed expectations to clinch a silver and bronze respectively, their first medals since 2010, at the Asian Games here on Friday.
Battling injuries, the recurve team of Ankita Bhakat, Simranjeet Kaur and Bhajan Kaur defied odds to clinch a bronze medal in the morning session. The fifth-seeded women’s trio dropped just one set to down their Vietnamese rivals 6-2 (56-52, 55-56, 57-50, 51-48) and secure their first-ever Asian Games medal in the Olympic-discipline category since Guangzhou 2010.
The women’s team’s splendid show then rubbed off on their male counterparts as the triumvirate of Atanu Das, Tushar Shelke, and Dhiraj Bommadevara returned with a silver medal. They defeated Bangladesh’s Sagor Islam, Hakim Rubel and Ruman Shana 5-3 (58-51, 57-54, 56-58, 57-57) in a lopsided semifinal.
But up against heavyweights South Korea in the gold medal clash, the Indian trio faltered 5-1 (55-60, 57-57, 55-56). The Indians had a splendid second set, drawing level to make it 1-3. In the third set, the Koreans slipped to the 8-ring but that did not matter much as Lee Wooseok, Oh Jinhyek and Kim Je Deok pipped India by a point to take the third set and seal the gold.
The last time India had won a medal in recurve category at the Asian Games was 13 years ago when they bagged an individual silver and team bronze medals in men’s and women’s events. India’s archery team secured their eighth medal at the ongoing Asian Games, ending a 13-year wait for success in the sport. The Indian archers claimed both silver and bronze medals across various categories. In the non-Olympic compound section, India had already clinched three team gold medals in mixed, women’s, and men’s events. Abhishek Verma and Ojas Deotale faced off in an all-India final in the compound individual section, vying for a top-two finish. Meanwhile, Jyothi Surekha Vennam advanced to the women’s compound individual final, guaranteeing at least a silver medal. The Indian women’s team, seeded fifth, started strongly by defeating higher-ranked Japan 6-2 in the quarterfinals. They faced the top-seeded South Korean team, led by triple Olympic gold winner An San, in the next round.
