Asian Games Archery: Jyothi powers India to top-spot in women's and mixed teams

In the women's compound archery qualification, 27-year-old Jyothi Surekha Vennam claimed first place, surpassing her South Korean counterparts. She scored 355 points in the midway stage of the 36-arrow session, which included 16 perfect 10s and 15 Xs (shots closer to the center).

Although she faced a slight dip in the latter half, finishing with 349 points, Jyothi secured the top spot ahead of South Korea's So Chaewon. Jyothi Surekha Vennam is a renowned Indian compound archer with an impressive record of eight medals at the World Championships, including an Individual bronze in the 2023 edition. She was also a key member of the silver medal-winning women's compound team in Jakarta.

World champion Aditi Swami, on the other hand, secured the fourth position, contributing to India's rise to the top seeding in the women's compound archery event. Aditi Swami, a compound archer, made history at the age of 17 as the youngest archery world champion.

Jyothi, Aditi, along with Parneet Kaur (12th place), achieved an aggregate team score of 2087, resulting in a tie with South Korea. However, the Indian team claimed the top spot due to their higher number of '10+X' scores (150-146) compared to their rivals.

Ojas Deotale and Abhishek Verma secured the third and fourth place, respectively, as India earned the second seedings in the men's team compound qualifiers. Pravin Ojas Deotale made history by becoming the first Indian man to win an individual world championship gold medal in Berlin, Germany, in August. Abhishek Verma was also part of the compound men's team at the last edition in Jakarta in 2018.

The men's compound team from India and Korea were tied with 2117 points each, but the Koreans claimed the top seed due to their superior '10+X' scores (176-174). In addition to their success in the men's category, the Indian compound mixed team also secured the top position with 1413 points, leading Korea by a margin of two points.

In the recurve section also, Indian archers delivered a commendable performance. The veteran Atanu Das secured the fourth position, while the promising youngster Dhiraj Bommadevara finished in sixth place in the men's section. Tushar Shelke also had a solid showing, finishing in 15th place.

Thanks to their performances, the Indian men's recurve team qualified as the third seed with a total of 2022 points. South Korea claimed the top position in the qualifiers with 2048 points, followed closely by Chinese Taipei at 2030 points.

In the recurve women's event, Ankita Bhakat was India's highest-ranked archer, securing the 10th position, while Bhajan Kaur finished 14th, earning the second qualification spot. Ankita achieved a total score of 649, which was notably behind the top seed, Lim Sihyeon of South Korea, who scored 678 points. In the women's team event, India ranked fifth with a total of 1929 points. The top three seedings in this event went to Korea (2022), hosts China (2005), and Chinese Taipei (1941).

Furthermore, in the recurve mixed team event, India secured the fifth spot, where Ankita Bhakat will be partnering with Atanu Das.

As the archery competition kicks off at the continental showpiece event, Indian archers are geared up to showcase their strength, especially in the compound section.