Indian Compound Archers suffer early exits at Antalya World Cup

India's compound archery campaign suffered an early setback at the Archery World Cup Stage 3 in Antalya as four archers, including rising star Sahil Jadhav, were eliminated in the Round of 64 of the individual events.

Sahil, who had entered the knockout stage after an impressive qualification round, lost a closely fought contest 145-147 to Mexico's Juan Gutierrez. The defeat brought an abrupt end to the young Indian's individual campaign after another promising showing on the international circuit.

Rishabh Yadav, Chikitha Taniparthi and Prithika Pradeep also bowed out in the opening knockout round, leaving India with limited representation in the individual compound events.

The results came a day after Indian archers produced encouraging performances in qualification. Sahil was among the standout performers in the men's compound category, while experienced campaigner Jyothi Surekha Vennam led the Indian women's challenge.

Team events offer India a chance to bounce back

Despite the disappointing individual results, India remain firmly in contention in the team competitions.

The men's compound team, comprising Sahil Jadhav, Ganesh Mani Ratnam Thirumuru and Kushal Dalal, secured a favourable position in qualification and will look to make a deep run in the knockout rounds.

The women's compound team of Jyothi Surekha Vennam, Chikitha Taniparthi and Prithika Pradeep also advanced comfortably and remain among the medal contenders.

India are additionally represented in the compound mixed team event, where Sahil and Jyothi have teamed up in pursuit of a podium finish.

With several team events still to come, the Indian contingent will be hoping to recover from the early individual setbacks and challenge for medals at the prestigious World Cup stage in Türkiye.