Deepika Kumari, Atanu Das, and Abhishek Verma miss out on Asian Games Squad

Seasoned archers, including Atanu Das, Deepika Kumari and Abhishek Verma, were outperformed by younger rivals in the high-intensity selection trials conducted by the Archery Association of India at the SAI NCOE Sonepat on Monday.

The top three archers from each category have been shortlisted to represent the country at the Asian Games scheduled for September 19 to October 4.

The experienced Jyothi Surekha Vennam will spearhead the compound women's team that includes Chikitha Taniparthi and Prithika Pradeep. Jyoti will be marking her fourth appearance at the Games, having won three gold, a silver and a bronze medal across her three previous appearances.

In the men’s compound category, veteran Abhishek Verma was edged out by the young trio of Sahil Jadhav, Kushal Dalal and T Ganesh Mani Ratnam in the race for a place in the team.

Olympian Dhiraj Bommadevara, Neeraj Chauhan and Yashdeep Bhoge secured places in the men’s recurve team, while Kirti Sharma, Kumkum Mohod and Ankita Bhakat finished among the top three to earn spots in the women’s recurve team.

“We selected four archers per category, but in the Asian Games we will have only 3 archers. We have two World Cups coming up, four archers will go for that,” AAI’s treasurer Joris Paulose confirmed to The Bridge on Monday.

Rishabh Yadav (compound men), Parneet Kaur (compound women), Deepika Kumari (recurve women) and Atanu Das (recurve men) finished fourth in their respective categories and have been selected for the upcoming World Cups.

The World Cup Stage 3 will be held in Antalya (Turkey) from June 9-14, and Stage 4 is scheduled for July 7-12 in Madrid (Spain).

Indian Archery Team for Asian Games 2026

Compound Women: Jyothi Surekha Vennam, Chikitha Taniparthi, Prithika Pradeep

Compound Men: Sahil Jadhav, Kushal Dalal, T Ganesh Mani Ratnam,

Recurve Men: Dhiraj Boomadevara, Neeraj Chauhan, Yashdeep Bhoge,

Recurve Women: Kirti Sharma, Kumkum Mohod, Ankita Bhakat.