Asian Archery Championships: Indian Compound mixed team reached semis, Individual elimination started

The 2023 Asian Archery Championships commenced on a high note, with the Indian Compound Mixed team of Aditi Swami and Priyansh delivering an impressive performance by reaching the semi-finals.

The Indian compound archery contingent once again displayed their dominance at the Asian Archery Championship as Aditi Swami and Priyansh, representing the Indian Compound Mixed team, secured a comfortable 158-151 victory against Iran, securing their spot in the semi-finals.

During the qualification round, the Compound mixed team claimed the top position with a total score of 1416. They are scheduled to face Kazakhstan in the semi-finals, which will take place tomorrow morning at 6:30 am IST.

However, the Recurve mixed team, composed of Ankita Bhakat and Dhiraj Bommadevara, couldn't replicate the success of the compound team. They lost their quarterfinal match to Japan with a scoreline of 4-5 in a closely contested match decided by a shootout.

The Individual Elimination rounds began with 8 compound and 4 recurve archers advancing to the Round of 16.

Dhiraj Bommadevera continued his strong performance, finishing 4th in the qualification round with a score of 682. On the other hand, Tarundeep Rai, making a comeback to the team, finished 6th with a score of 678. Both Dhiraj and Tarundeep maintained their momentum in the elimination round, reaching the Round of 16 with their respective victories in the round of 32. Unfortunately, other Indian players, Pravin Jadhav and Tushar Shelke, were eliminated in the round of 48 by Iranian and Chinese archers, respectively.

In the Women's Recurve category, Bhajan Kaur and Tisha Punia advanced to the round of 16 with comfortable 2/2 wins. Notably, 18-year-old Tisha achieved an upset by defeating the higher-seeded and more experienced Indian archer Ankita Bhakat with a score of 7-3 in the round of 32. However, Simranjeet Kaur exited the competition in the round of 48, losing 3-7 to a Thai player.

In the Men's Compound category, Priyansh, Abhishek Verma, Prathamesh Fuge, and Ojas Deotale secured their spots in the round of 16, which is set to begin tomorrow at 7:45 IST. Aditi Swami, Parneet Kaur, Jyothi Surekha Vennam, and Muskan Kirar will compete in the Women's Compound R16 matches tomorrow.

During the qualification round, Ojas Deotale, the World Champion, narrowly missed a spot in the men's compound team, finishing as the fourth-best Indian archer. Another surprising result came in the women's compound category, with 23-year-old Muskan Kirar, a newcomer to the Indian Women's compound contingent, winning her round of 32 match against the 2023 World Cup stage winner, Korean player Cho Su A.