India completed a clean sweep of compound archery golds at the Asian Games. The team showed great precision to win the women’s, mixed, and men’s events. Chikitha Taniparthi and Sahil Jadhav secured a ticket for the 2028 LA Olympics. Jyothi Surekha Vennam said, "We were there to fight till our last arrow."
India's archers (ANI Photo)
This Asian Games, India have failed to defend at least a dozen gold medals won across sports in the previous Games in Hangzhou. Forms and fortunes have fluctuated. At the Okazaki Chuo Sogo Park Multipurpose Park here, the weather swung from cool to hot to cloudy, but the Indians remained unruffled. Youngsters stood up to be counted, seasoned campaigners brought their experience to the fore, and a meticulous system ensured little was left to chance. There were no upsets, no pull-outs and no excuses. Just precision and performance, a heady combination that helped India sweep the women’s, mixed and men’s team compound gold medals. The icing on the cake, the mixed team of Chikitha Taniparthi and Sahil Jadhav punching their ticket for the 2028 LA Olympics. For much of the day, it felt like listening to a favourite song on repeat. The same rhythm, over and over. Semifinals, finals, women, men, mixed. Finish one event, move to the next and reproduce the performance. First up were Jyothi Surekha Vennam, Chikitha and Prithika Pradeep, who defeated China 238-234 in the women’s final after edging South Korea 234-233 in the semifinals. In the process, they matched South Korea’s world record score, dating back to 2014. It was teamwork in its truest sense. In the final, when Prithika shot a nine in the second game, her teammates compensated. It was the pattern throughout the contest — one faltered, the others stepped up. They backed each other and looked completely in control, even when the pressure mounted. “We spent a lot of time meditating and visualising. We stayed focused and thought of going up on the podium and the Indian flag going up. That was our aim and we are glad to have achieved it,” said debutant Pune teenager Prithika, who turned 18 three days ago. At the heart of the celebrations was seasoned campaigner Jyothi, from Challapalli in Andhra, who was also part of the gold-medal winning team in Hangzhou. “This is the first time we got to play against China in the women’s team contest. We were there for each other and motivating one another to give our best in each shot. We were there to fight till our very last arrow,” said the 30-year-old. There was barely any time to savour the victory. Chikitha, 21, quickly turned her attention to the mixed team event with Jadhav. The pair began with a 156-155 semifinal win over Thailand before a nervy final against South Korea. They started strongly, producing 10 straight perfect scores to take a two-point lead into the final four arrows. Then came a wobble. India managed 39 while Korea shot 40, leaving the scores tied at 157-all and forcing a shoot-off. The Indians responded with composure, producing twin 10s. Korea could manage 19, leaving India with another gold. In the men’s event, Kushal Dalal, Jadhav and Ganesh Mani Rathnam brushed aside South Korea 239-236 in the last-four contest before edging China 238-237 in a tense final. Even when they trailed by two points, the Indians refused to allow the sweep to slip away. The results were the product of preparation that left little to chance. Ahead of the Games, the team spent 15 days at a simulated venue at the Sports Authority of India centre in Sonipat, complete with the screens, targets and podiums that would be used in Okazaki. Crowd noise and music systems were also introduced to replicate the atmosphere they would encounter in competition.
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Former India coach Sergio Pagni watched from the sidelines, while his successor, highly accomplished American Dave Cousins, who took charge in June, soaked in the success alongside team coach Jiwanjot Singh. Cousins credited the sweep to the team’s passion. “It’s a youthful team with a lot of good energy and passion. Passion is very important because it isn’t something you can manufacture. It has to come from within, especially at such a young age. We were bold.''