Indian U21 men's compound archery team shatters world record

The Indian archery men’s U-21 compound team of Kushal Dalal, Manav Jadhao, and Ganesh Mani broke the World Record at the ongoing Asia Cup-World Ranking Tournament, Stage 1 in Bangkok, Thailand.

The trio scored 2129 in the ranking round and rewrote the record by 18 points.

By virtue of their performance, the men’s team has reached the final and will take on Malaysia on Saturday. The team comprises four archers but the scores from 'best of three archers' are considered.

Incidentally, this is not the first time that the same set of archers have broken the world record. Last year, during the Asia Cup stage 3, the trio broke the existing record of 2111 by 4 points but were oblivious to the rules.

Coach Deepak Malik confirmed the development to The Bridge, “Yes, our under-21 compound men’s team has broken the World Record. The same archers broke the world record last year too but we were not aware of the rules then. So, this time we went prepared, agar hawa nahi chali to record todenge aur register bhi karenge.”

To register a World Record, one needs to submit an application to World Archery with all the necessary details and supporting evidence.

“During the Youth Asian Championships last year, we asked the judges and the competition director informed us that Asia Cup is a senior competition and we had fielded our Junior team. And in order to register the record we need to make an appeal for the same. India fields its junior archers at the Asia Cup for exposure,” he informed.

Special surprise for special win

For Kushal Dalal, a resident of Sonipat, the record makes the tournament extra special. An elated 20-year-old archer was quick to call his mother Geeta and learnt that a special surprise waits him at home.

“I have played 6-7 Asia Cup tournaments but this is close to my heart. We broke the world record and I personally had really close rounds to reach the finals,” the Kushal told this website.

“During the course of the competition we didn’t know about the record but soon after the scores were added up sir (Deepak Malik) told us we had broken the record and we began to celebrate. I rang my mother,” Kushal said.

Kushal topped the men’s compound qualification round and will compete against Malaysia’s Alang Ariff Aqil Muhammad Ghazalli in the final. He beat Kazakastan’s Andrey Tyutyun and teammate Manav Jadhao en route to the final.

“I played some really close matches. I was nervous against Manav. We both were tied at 147 and both shot a 10 in the tie. In the semifinals, against the Kazakhstan archer, I did not lose a single point,” Kushal reflected.

Medals galore

The recurve men’s final will be an all-India affair with Rahul taking on Vishnu Choudhary. Among the Indian women, Basanti Mahato (recurve) is in the final while Chikitha Taniparthi is in contention for the bronze medal in the compound category.

The compound men’s team will take on Malaysia in the final and the women's team has settled for the bronze. Apart from the podium, there are two quota places up for grabs for the World Games.

The finals are scheduled for Saturday.