Asian Archery Championships: Jyothi Surekha Vennam and Parneet Kaur set up all Indian final, Recurve teams miss out on Olympic quota

Indian archers showcased a dominating performance at the 2023 Asian Archery Championship in Bangkok, securing their positions in the finals and claiming medals in different categories. The Women's Compound team, comprising of World Champions Jyothi Surekha Vennam, Aditi Swami, and Parneet Kaur, advanced to the final with a convincing 228-217 victory over Thailand in the semifinals.

Jyothi Surekha Vennam and Parneet Kaur also displayed incredible performances in their respective semifinals. They set up an all-Indian final in the women's compound individual event, promising an exciting showdown. Jyothi Surekha Vennam secured her spot in the final by defeating Huang-I-Jou of Chinese Taipei with a score of 148-145, while Parneet Kaur triumphed in her semifinal match against Kazakhstan's Viktoriya Lyan, winning with a score of 147-145.

The Compound Mixed team, featuring Priyansh and Aditi Swami, also secured their place in the final by overcoming a Kazakhstan pair in the semifinals with a score of 157-155. They are now set to face Thailand in the title clash. This exciting final is scheduled for November 9.

The Compound Men's team, on the other hand, comprising Priyansh, Prathamesh Fuge, and Abhishek Verma lost to Kazakhstan in the semifinals in a close fought battle. The final score was 236-237 in Kazakhstan’s favour. However, the Indian archers put on an impressive performance and held their nerves in a nail-biting bronze medal match against Chinese Taipei. They eventually won 235-235(29-28).

Abhishek Verma will fight for the bronze medal against Joo Jaehoon of South Korea in the men's compound event. In the semifinal encounter, Abhishek Verma narrowly lost against Kazakhstan's Andrey Tyutyun. Abhishek Verma got the better of fellow Indian Prathamesh Fuge in the quarterfinal bout with a score of 147-148. On the other hand, Tyutyun eliminated three Indian archers, including Verma, on his way to the final. In the quarterfinal, he beat Priyansh, while he got the better of World Champion Ojas Deotale in the round of 16.

Several disappointments among the victories for the Indian Archers

It wasn't all smooth sailing for the Indian contingent in the competition. Bangladeshi archer Bonna Akter caused an upset by defeating World Champion Aditi Swami in the Round of 16 of the women's compound individual event, with a score of 145-146. Muskan Kirar also faced disappointment, losing her quarterfinal match 142-146 to Parneet Kaur.

While in the Women's Recurve category, the Indian team consisting of Bhajan Kaur, Ankita Bhakat, and Tisha Punia secured the bronze medal with a 5-1 victory over Chinese Taipei, they missed out on a Paris Olympics quota opportunity. The women's team lost to higher-ranked South Korea in the semifinals with a score of 2-6.

Bhajan Kaur and Tisha Punia also faced defeat in their round of 16 matches in the women's recurve individual event.

The Men's Recurve team, comprising Dhiraj Bommadevara, Tarundeep Rai, and Pravin Jadhav, had a tough quarterfinal match against Kazakhstan, in which they lost 4-5 in a shootoff. With this defeat, they too missed out on the Paris Quota.

Dhiraj and Tarundeep Rai were also taking part in the individual event but they couldn't get past the quarterfinals.

Nevertheless, the Indian recurve archers will have another chance to secure individual quotas for the Paris Olympics as they participate in the Asian Individual Qualifying tournament starting on November 10th. In this tournament, the Indian archers will fight for the last available spot at the Paris Olympics, as only one spot is available per country in each of the individual events for men and women from the two on offer.