3 gold, 1 silver, 3 bronze: Key takeaways from Asian Archery Championships 2023

Asian Archery Championships 2023 concluded on Thursday, with India finishing the event with seven medals, including three gold, one silver, and three bronze medals. Six out of seven medals came out in compound archery events.

Teenager Parneet Kaur was the standout performer. She defeated compatriot and experienced archer Jyothi Surekha Vennam to clinch the gold medal in the women's compound final. However, world champion Ojas Pravin Deotale failed to make it to the men's compound team.

As the Asian Archery Championships came to an end, The Bridge took a look at key takeaways from the tournament.

New champion in women's compound

18-year-old Parneet Kaur stunned seasoned campaigner Jyothi Surekha Vennam in the final to claim her maiden Asian title. The final was tied at 145-145 and was decided in the shoot-off, where Parneet edged Jyothi after a 9-8 to claim the gold medal. This was Parneet's first major individual title.

She is also a regular part of the world's top women's compound Indian team but was long overshadowed by the other two archers due to her lack of individual achievements, but this Asian title will take her to the limelight.

"Double the thrill, double the gold! Grateful to stand as an individual and team champion at the Asian Championship'23. Teamwork makes the dream work!" Parneet wrote on Instagram.

The dominance of women's compound team continues

Indian women's compound team of Parneet Kaur, Aditi Swami, and Jyothi Surekha continued their remarkable show as they won their fourth title in four months after winning the gold in Bangkok at the Asian Archery Championships.

In the final, they won 234-233 against Chinese Taipei in a very close match to register their 14 straight wins.

World champions lost

World champions Aditi Swami and Ojas Deotaleve had a forgetful outing. They lost in their respective Round of 16 matches. Aditi was handed a defeat by Bangladesh's Bonna Akter, whereas Ojas Deotale lost 147-149 against the eventual gold medallist Andrey Tyutyun of Kazakhstan.

Aditi, however, recovered from her disappointing individual campaign by winning two gold medals in team events, but Ojas could not even make it to the men's team as he finished as the fourth-best Indian archer in the qualification round.

Recurve teams missed out on quota places

Indian recurve teams missed out on a team quota place for the 2024 Paris Olympics. The women's recurve team won a bronze medal but lost 2-6 to eventual champions South Korea in the semifinals to miss out on an Olympic quota opportunity.

The men's recurve team, meanwhile, was one of the favourites for the quota place, but they were upset by Kazakhstan in the quarterfinal, where the Indian side lost 4-5 after a shoot-off.

Good outings for the newcomers

There were many new faces in the Indian squad for the Asian Championships because of fresh trials straight after the Asian Games. While veteran Tarundeep Rai returned to the recurve team after missing out on the World Championships and Asian Games, Under 21 world champion Priyansh secured his first place in the senior team.

Both Priyansh and Tarundeep made this a good outing as Priyansh won the gold medal in the mixed event after finishing second in the qualification round whereas Tarundeep registered a top 6 finish in men's recurve.