Indian archery witnessed some historic moments in 2023, which may inspire the archers to push themselves in 2024 to achieve an elusive Olympic medal in Paris. The compound archers stamped their class at the elite level by securing three of the five gold medals at the World Championships in Berlin. It was a first for the country, which did not have a single world title in the sport. Seventeen-year-old Aditi Swami was the highlight, securing two world titles in women’s archery: one in the team category alongside Jyothi Surekha Vennam and Parneet Kaur and another in the individual event.
Aditi’s academy mate from Maharashtra, Ojas Deotale, secured the men’s individual gold medal as India swept the individual compound titles in the World Championships.
Compound archers shone in the Hangzhou Asian Games by picking up seven medals, including five golds. Deotale, Abhishek Verma, and Prathamesh Jawkar had a fantastic year in which Deotale beat World No. 1 Mike Scholesser twice and claimed a World Cup stage gold, and the trio won the team gold medal.
World champion Deotale also clinched the individual gold, beating compatriot Verma, and the mixed team title with Jyothi. The women archers also gave dazzling performances, with the seasoned Jyothi bagging three gold medals, leading the world champion trio (including Aditi and Parneet) to the team title, besides claiming the individual crown and the mixed team gold. It was disheartening to see Jyothi being ignored for the Khel Ratna award despite her magnificent showing throughout the calendar.
India’s superlative performance, which was much better than the two silver medals in Bangkok in 2018, trumped its previous best of four medals in 2014 and pushed the formidable South Korea — which won 11 medals, including four gold, this time and had been ruling the archery competitions since 1982 — to the second position in Hangzhou. Korea had a higher overall number of medals in the sport but had a lower gold medal count.
In the Asian Games, the recurve archers won medals in men’s and women’s team events after 13 years. It was a creditable effort because several top countries, including traditional powerhouse Korea, competed in the continental showpiece event.
The Indian archers’ combined showing resulted in the best-ever return of nine medals.
After athletics and shooting, archery was the third-most medal-producing sport, and it helped India cross the milestone of 100 medals for the first time.
Italian coach Sergio Pagni’s able guidance played a significant part in the Indian compound archers’ superb showing, which included 12 medals in the World Cups. Meanwhile, the recurve archers also produced noticeable results, including five medals in World Cups. Even though the Indians could not qualify for the Olympics through the World Championships, they finished within the top eight by making it to the quarterfinals in men’s and women’s team events. It may help them improve their world rankings and boost their chances of qualifying for Paris 2024.
Leaving a mark: Seventeen-year-old Aditi Swami has been one of the breakout stars in Indian archery. | Photo Credit: SANDEEP SAXENA
Promising archer Dhiraj Bommadevara, who took an individual bronze and contributed to three team medals in the World Cups and the team silver in the Asian Games, fought back after his forgettable individual performance in Hangzhou to win India’s first Olympic quota place in archery.
With the primary focus being Paris 2024, the Indian recurve archers will try their best to make the cut through the final qualifier in Antalya, Turkey, from June 14 to 17 this year.
Olympian Atanu Das has shown signs of returning to form (as he was part of the men’s team that got medals in the World Cups and a silver at the Asian Games with Dhiraj and Tushar Shelke), and with another Olympian Tarundeep Rai still shooting well, there is a healthy competition between the seasoned and up-and-coming archers. It augurs well for Indian archery.
Even though the Indian women, who shot a team bronze through Ankita Bhakat, Simranjeet Kaur, and Bhajan Kaur in Hangzhou after clinching a team bronze in the World Cup Stage-4 in Paris, have done decently, they need to be more consistent. The youngsters need to elevate their game and strengthen their team bonding. This is important as the experienced Deepika Kumari has not been part of the side of late, and there is no certainty of her comeback.
Ahead of the Olympics, the elite recurve athletes mean business. The archer couple of Atanu-Deepika and Dhiraj spent some time training separately in Korea in recent weeks to fine-tune their skills.
The archers have to go through the rigours of a series of complex selection trials spread over several months to prove themselves for the qualifiers and the Olympics.
Some archers getting nominated for World Archery (WA) awards is a proud moment for Indian archery and should inspire the recurve archers to perform even better in the Olympic year.
Sheetal Devi, who medalled in the World Para-Archery Championships and the Asian Games and was later nominated for the WA Awards, caught everyone’s attention and brought more glory to the nation.
Sheetal was adjudged the Best Para Woman Athlete of the Year 2023. For their superb performances in 2023, Sheetal, Aditi, and Deotale were selected for the prestigious Arjuna Award.
The overall success of Indian archers is an outcome of a comprehensive approach, covering every aspect of the sport, adopted by the Archery Association of India (AAI).
Amidst the upswing in Indian archery in the year gone by, one wonders whether its archers can achieve the much-longed-for medal in Paris 2024 and bring an end to their also-ran tag in the Olympics for so many years. Winning an Olympic medal can also benefit the profile of archery in India. It can attract more corporate sponsorships and talented individuals to the sport, which has started flourishing by expanding infrastructure and competitions.
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