Hyderabad, Jan 9 (Archery News) Top Indian archers, including Atanu Das and Deepika Kumari, made first round exits as Sukhchain Singh clinched the senior recurve men's title to lead a Services clean sweep in the National Ranking tournament, here on Sunday.

The 25-year-old Army Sports Institute archer Sukhchain, who has a world ranking of 218, created the biggest upset of the day when he eliminated India No. 1 Atanu Das 6-4 in the round of 16.

Das's Tokyo Olympics teammates Tarundeep Rai and Pravin Jadhav also made first round exits, going down to Dhiraj Bommadevara and Sachin Gupta in shootoffs.

In the final, Singh defeated his Services teammate Rahul Nagarwal 6-2, while Dhiraj won the third place playoff defeating veteran Jayanta Talukdar.

In the women's recurve section, World No. 2 Deepika Kumari suffered one of the shocking defeats of her career when she was eliminated by Telengana teenager Kadire Sindhuja 7-3 in the first round of 16.

Sindhuja however lost out in the second round, going down to Promila Dalmary of Assam 6-4.

Ankita Bhakat of Jharkhand emerged the champion in the women's section, defeating Simranjeet Kaur of Punjab 6-4, while Ridhi of Haryana won the third place playoff.

Rajat Chauhan of Rajasthan and Jyothi Surekha Vennam of PSPB clinched the top honours in the compound men's and women's sections respectively. 

Also Read : Salunkhe, Ankita top qualifications; Atanu, Deepika fall behind

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Hyderabad, Jan 8 (Archery News) Reigning national champion Parth Salunkhe topped the qualification round even as the Tokyo Olympic-returned trio of Pravin Jadhav, Atanu Das and seniormost Tarundeep Rai slipped in the National Ranking Archery Tournament here on Saturday.

The 18-year-old Maharashtra archer shot 680 points to top the qualification round in the recurve men's section, while Army man B Dhiraj (678) and Shukmani Babrekar (670) took the second and third spots respectively.

Jadhav was the best among the Tokyo-returned trio finishing with 669 points to take the fourth spot, while World Cup gold medalist Atanu Das came a lowly eighth, while seniormost Army archery Rai narrowly made the cut finishing 15th.

Multiple World Cup gold medalist and three-time Olympian Deepika Kumari took the third spot in the women's recurve section, finishing below Ankita Bhakat (668) and Simranjeet Kaur.

Simranjeet and Deepika were tied on 656 points but the former edged out the star Indian archer shooting 26 perfect 10s.

In the compound section, the qualifications went on expected lines with Abhishek Verma and Jyothi Surekha Vennam clinching the pole positions in the men's and women's sections respectively. 

Also Read : India lose to Korea twice in recurve finals, conclude campaign with seven medals

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Dhaka, Nov 19 (Archery news) The Indian recurve archers once again failed to match the mighty Koreans and suffered one-sided losses to settle for two silver medals in the men's and team events of the Asian Archery Championships here on Friday.

The archers also bagged a bronze in the recurve mixed team event with an easy 6-0 win over Uzbekistan as India concluded their campaign at the continental showpiece with one gold, four silver and two bronze medals.

In the last edition too, India had won seven medals (1-2-4), although the archers bettered the silver medal's count this time.

The competition once again exposed the archers' weakness against the Koreans in the recurve section, as they lost both their finals to their perennial nemesis which meant that India are yet to win a gold in the Olympic discipline since 2013.

The duo of Jayanta Talukdar and Deepika Kumari were the last gold medallists in recurve section -- they had won the mixed team event in Taipei eight years ago.

The recurve men's team last won a gold way back in 2007, while the women have never climbed to the top of the podium.

At the Bangladesh Army Stadium in Banani, the script unfolded on expected lines with the men's recurve team of Kapil, Pravin Jadhav and Parth Salunkhe going down 2-6 (52-57, 53-55, 56-54, 55-57) to top seed Lee Seungyun, Kim Pil-Joong and Han Woo Tack.

Up against the Koreans, the second seeded Indians showed no fight at all and shot a wayward 6, besides hitting the red ring once to score an 8 in their 52-pointer first set.

They peaked gradually to take the third set with an average score of 56 but it was too little, too late as the Koreans sealed the issue with another consistent shooting of 57 in the fourth set.

The women's recurve team of Ankita Bhakat, Madhu Vedwan and Ridhi proved to be way below par and surrendered meekly to Ryoo Su Jung, Oh Yejin and Lim Haejin 0-6 (57-52, 59-49, 56-60).

A 6 and 7 in first set, followed by a 49-pointer second end from a maximum of 60 points, highlighted the Indian women's capitulation.

The Koreans stepped it up gradually, shooting 57, 59 and then a perfect 60 to seal the issue.

The recurve mixed team of Kapil and Ankita Bhakat later won 6-0 (35-32, 37-32, 36-35) against Uzbekistan's Abdusattorova Ziyodakhon and Amirkhan Sadikov.

India's only gold of the meet came courtesy World Championship triple silver medallist Jyothi Surekha Vennam in the compound women's individual event.

Jyothi showed the way on Thursday when she overcame the Korean challenge twice, including in a gripping but controversial final en route to winning her second Asian medal. She had last won the gold in 2015.

Jyothi settled for a silver in the mixed team event after losing to the top seed Koreans by one point to conclude her campaign with two medals. Jyothi had the company of 19-year-old Rishabh Yadav in the mixed pair event.

India bagged another silver in the compound men's individual event after former Asian Games gold medallist Abhishek Verma lost to Korea's Kim Jong Ho.

Rishabh Yadav had bagged a compound men's team bronze along with Verma and Aman Saini to open India's account on Wednesday.

Also Read : Jyothi downs mighty Koreans twice to win individual gold

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Dhaka, Nov 18 (Archery news) World Championship triple silver medallist Jyothi Surekha Vennam overcame the mighty Korean challenge twice, including in a gripping but controversial final, to win the women's compound individual gold at the Asian Archery Championships here on Thursday.

Fresh from winning three silver medals at the Yankton Worlds in September, Jyothi defeated 2015 world champion Kim Yunhee 148-143 in a lopsided semifinal, before sealing India's first gold against Oh Yoohyun with a one-point win (146-145).

Leading by two points going into the final set, the world number six Jyothi shot one 10 and hit the 9-ring twice, which was enough to land India the first gold medal after the Korean hit the 9-ring in a controversial decision.

The entire Korean contingent including the coaches challenged, believing it to be a 10, but the judge ruled it a 9, giving the result in India's favour.

"The arrow was completely missing 10. All Korean coaches went to the target which is not allowed as per rules to put pressure on the judge. As per the World Archery rules, it is a one judge call and cannot be protested," said an Indian coach in Dhaka.

Jyothi started off in a spectacular fashion drilling in three perfect 10s to lead 20-29.

But two 9s in the second end meant that the 25-year-old Indian scored 28, as the experienced Korean shot two 10s en route to 29, which levelled the scores 58-all.

Showing great composure, the Andhra archer tilted the match in her favour once again with three 10s from her three arrows in the third set to go ahead 88-86.

Both the archers shot a perfect third round with scores of 30 each and all eyes were on the final end with Jyothi holding on to her slender one-point advantage.

Needing a 10 in the final arrow to take the match to shoot-off, Yoohyun missed the ring by millimetres with the judge ruling out the Korean's protest.

It turned out to be a sweet revenge for the Indian who settled for a silver in the mixed team event after losing to the top seed Koreans by one point to conclude her campaign with two medals. Jyothi had the company of 19-year-old Rishabh Yadav in the mixed pair event.

After being locked 38-all in the opening round, the experienced Korean duo of former world champion Kim Yunhee and Choi Younghee stepped up, shooting four perfect 10s en route to winning it 155-154.

This was India's second medal of the competition and also for 19-year-old Yadav who had bagged a team bronze along with former Asian Games gold medallist Abhishek Verma and Aman Saini on Wednesday.

Making his debut at the Asian Championships, Yadav outshone his mentor Verma to be the best among the Indians in the individual ranking round and qualify for the mixed team event.

In a game of small margins, the Indian pair managed just two 10s from their four arrows in the second end.

There was an opportunity in the third end when the Koreans shot two 9s, as the Indian pair needed all 10s to square it up. But they managed three 10s from their four arrows as the Koreans held on to their narrow lead to clinch the gold.

Also Read : Jyothi, Rishabh lose to mighty Koreans by one point, settle for silver

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Dhaka, Nov 18 (Archery news) World Championships triple silver medallist Jyothi Surekha Vennam and her young teammate Rishabh Yadav lost out to the top seeded Koreans by a solitary point to settle for a silver in the compound mixed team event of the Asian Archery Championships here on Thursday.

After being locked 38-all in the opening round, the experienced Korean duo of former world champion Kim Yunhee and Choi Younghee stepped up, shooting four perfect 10s en route to winning it 155-154.

This was India's second medal of the competition and also for 19-year-old Yadav who had bagged a team bronze along with former Asian Games gold medallist Abhishek Verma and Aman Saini on Wednesday.

Making his debut at the Asian Championships, Yadav outshone his mentor Verma to be the best among the Indians in the individual ranking round and qualify for the mixed team event.

In a game of fine margins, the Indian pair managed just two 10s from their four arrows in the second end. There was an opportunity in the third end when the Koreans shot two 9s, as the Indian pair needed all 10s to square it up.

But they managed three 10s from their four arrows as the Koreans held on to their narrow lead to clinch the gold.

Also Read : Mixed day for Indian archers, win one bronze, lose another

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Dhaka, Nov 17 (Archery news) India's men's compound team won a bronze medal but the women team lost its play-off as the country had a mixed day at the 22nd Asian Archery Championships, here on Wednesday.

The men's team of Rishabh Yadav, Abhishek Verma and Aman Saini outplayed local challengers Bangladesh 235-223, while the women's team was let down by their inexperience. It went down 208-220 to Kazakhstan in the bronze playoff.

The Bangladeshi men's team of Nawaz Ahmed Rakib, Mohammad Ashikuzzaman and Mohammad Sohel Rana was no match to the Indians who went on to drill in 19 perfect 10s from 24 arrows to win country's first medal in the ongoing edition of the continental showpiece.

In the women's team event, Jyothi Surekha Vennam and her teenaged teammates Priya Gurjar and Parneet Kaur suffered a thrashing after failing to overcome a pathetic first round.

Fresh from creating two world records at the World Youth Championships, promising under-18 archer Priya Gurjar misfired after her arrow came off the resting pad just at the point of release.

The miss meant the trio managed just 45 points as against Kazakhstan's strong 57-point opening round that proved decisive in the end.

India are also in the hunt for a third bronze medal in the recurve mixed team event slated on Friday.

The archers have also confirmed four medals in the recurve men's, women's, compound individual and mixed team events.

Three-time World Championships silver medalist Jyothi has also advanced into the semifinal of the compound section to be the lone Indian in the medal hunt in the women's individual section.

Also Read : Indian archers confirm three medals, face 'nemesis' Korea in all finals

News Source : PTI

Dhaka, Nov 16 (Archery news) India entered the finals of the men, women and mixed team events of the Asian Archery Championships on Tuesday, assuring the nation of at least three medals in continental showpiece here.

India also remained in the hunt for three bronze medals in the compound men, women and recurve mixed team events after losing their respective semifinal matches.

Top seed Korea, who has been their perennial nemesis in almost every international competition, will once again stand in India's gold medal way in all the three events.

The archery heavyweight nation, Korea, are in line for a clean sweep at the continental showpiece.

India had on Monday kept themselves in the hunt for two medals in the individual compound section, with one being assured.

Making amend for their below-par show in the individual section on Monday, the recurve archers stepped it up in the team events when the second-seeded men and women teams secured contrasting semifinal wins to confirm two medals.

Ankita Bhakat, Madhu Vedwan and Ridhi secured an easy 6-0 (51-48, 56-50, 53-50) win over Vietnam in the women's team semifinal. In a small six-team field, the second seeded India got a bye into the last-four round.

Third seed Bangladesh, on the other hand, gave Kapil, Pravin Jadhav and Parth Salunkhe a stiff challenge in the men's recurve team semifinal when the local favourites raced to a 3-1 lead.

But the Indian trio forced a tie-breaker making it 4-4 (53-53, 53-56, 56-56, 56-55) before sealing a final berth in a thrilling shoot-off which also went to a tie.

Both the teams shot 10, 9 and 8 but the Indians were declared winner with their 10 being closest to the centre.

Having got a bye into the quarters, second seed India started off beating Saudi Arabian 6-0 in the recurve men's team event.

India advanced into their third final in the compound mixed pair section where the duo of Rishabh Yadav and Jyothi Surekha Vennam made full use of the small six-team field to advance with an easy 156-154 win over Kazakhstan.

Seeded second, the Indian compound mixed team got a bye into the semifinal.

Bangladesh went on to avenge their recurve men's team semifinal defeat by winning their recurve mixed pair semifinal to book a summit clash with top-seed Korea.

Kapil and Ankita started off on a brilliant note shooting four perfect arrows but they slipped thereafter as Bangladesh backed by the local support made it 4-4 (40-37, 36-37, 36-38, 37-36).

In the shoot-off, the Bangladeshi duo of Mohammad Hakim Ahmed Rubel and Diya Siddique edged out the Indians 19-20 landing both the arrows in the central ring.

Yadav, Abhishek Verma and Aman Saini narrowly missed out on a final berth in the compound men's team event with a shocking one-point loss to Kazakhstan.

The Indian trio, who led by two points at the halfway mark, cracked under pressure and shot inconsistently at the back end to go down 229-230 to Sergey Khristich, Andrey Tyutyun and Akbarali Karabayev.

India will face local favourites Bangladesh in the bronze medal clash of the compound men's team event.

India also lost in the semifinals of the compound women's team event as they were let down by inexperience and failed to take advantage of the small field of six teams.

Having got a bye into the semifinals, second seed India suffered a 227-220 defeat at the hands of Iran and will will now face Kazakhstan in the bronze medal play-off.

Jyothi and her teenaged teammates Priya Gurjar and Parneet Kaur were no match for their rivals and managed just two 10s in the first end.

The Iranian team of Geesa Bybordy, Raheleh Farsi and Kosar Khoshnoudikia, on the other hand, shot 11 perfect 10s from the first 12 arrows to jump to a seven-point lead before sealing the issue by the same margin.

On Monday, former Asian Games gold medalist Verma set up a semifinal clash against uncapped Mohit Deshwal in the compound individual section to confirm his first medal.

World Championships triple silver medallist Jyothi has also made the semifinal in the compound section to be the lone Indian in fray in the women's individual section.

Also Read : Debutant Mohit stuns Korean top seed, 3 compound archers make semis

News Source : PTI

Dhaka, Nov 15 (Archery news) Young and unheralded Mohit Deshwal of Haryana stunned Korean top seed Choi Yonghee en route to setting up a semi-final clash with Indian ace Avishek Verma in the men's compound section of the Asian Archery Championships here on Monday.

On a day when the Indian recurve archers' familiar struggles against the Koreans once again came to the fore, the compound trio of Mohit, Verma and Jyothi Surekha kept India's hopes alive in the individual sections, advancing into their respective last-four rounds.

Less than two months after winning a silver medal at the Jamshedpur Senior Nationals, the 19-year-old Mohit stepped up at the international level and stood on the verge of a dream Asian Championships medal.

Having slipped to 16th place in the ranking round on Sunday, the India debutant shocked the world number 18 in the pre-quarterfinals, shooting a perfect 10 in the shoot-off as his heavyweight Korean rival managed a 9.

Hailing from a poor farmer's family in Ladhot village near Rohtak, Mohit displayed maturity and drilled in 13 perfect 10s from 15 arrows, which included five X (closest to the centre) before delivering the final punch in the shoot-off.

Mohit started off in spectacular fashion, with six perfect arrows to lead 60-59 after two ends as he held on to his one-point advantage in a neck-and-neck tussle till a small slip (9) in the final end helped Yonghee claw back to level 148-all.

"He has a strong mental game which helped him recover from the poor show in the ranking round and beat the Korean... I was following bit by bit," Mohit's coach Deepak Malik told PTI.

Malik runs the Navyug Archery Academy near Rohtak, where Mohit trains with his younger sister Tamanna Deshwal, a recurve mixed team silver medallist at the Under-17 World Youth Championships in Wroclaw, Poland in August.

"He just needs a win to win a dream medal at the Asian Championships. It would be a big achievement for all of us," Malik, whose students Kushal Dalal, Tamanna and Vickey got medals at the Youth World Championships in August, added.

In the quarters, Mohit defeated eighth seed Amir Kazempour of Iran 148-144 to seal his semifinal berth.

Former Asian champion Verma secured three easy wins on his way to setting up a semifinal clash with Mohit.

The duo last met at the Senior Nationals in October with Verma reigning supreme.

A day after he outshone his mentor Verma to get the third seeding, Rishabh Yadav made a disappointing quarterfinal exit, going down to sixth seed Sergey Khristich in a shoot-off.

Both shot in the nine ring in the shoot-off, but the Kazakhstan archer was adjudged winner with his arrow closer to the centre.

Fresh from winning three silver medals at the World Championships this year, Jyothi Surekha Vennam was the only Indian in fray in the women's individual section.

Jyothi got the better of her teammate Parneet Kaur 148-146 to set up a last-four date with Korean top seed Kim Yunhee, the 2015 world champion.

It was the same old story in the recurve section, where the Koreans made the Indians bite the dust en route to make an all-Korean semifinal lineup.

The Tokyo Olympics-returned Pravin Jadhav and reigning senior national champion Parth Salunkhe were the best among the Indian quartet, but in the quarters they went down to their respective Korean opponents in the men's individual section.

In the women's section, reigning youth world champion Komalika Bari lost to top seed Ryoo Su Jung, the 2011 world youth champion 6-4, in the quarters.

Madhu Vedwan and Ridhi also made quarterfinal exits, suffering 0-6 thrashing against their respective Korean opponents.

The team elimination round is slated on Thursday.

Also Read : Yadav best among Indians, pips mentor Verma to take third place in ranking round

News Source : PTI

Dhaka, Nov 14 (Archery news) Upcoming compound archer Rishabh Yadav pipped his mentor Abhishek Verma for the third spot in the ranking round and hogged the limelight in the Asian Championships that got underway at Bangladesh Army Stadium in Banani here on Sunday.

Overall, the Indian archers took the second place in the team and mixed events of recurve and compound sections, as heavyweights Korea dominated the qualifications on expected lines.

Making his Asian Championships debut, the 19-year-old Yadav, who shot to prominence by bagging a bronze at the Youth World Championships earlier this year, scored 708 points to pip Verma by one point.

A product of SAI Centre of Excellence in Sonepat, Yadav, who is being coached by Verma since 2012, was lying second at the halfway mark with 356 points, three behind the eventual topper Choi Yonghee of Korea.

But Yadav slipped to third place in the final six ends with Kim Jongho joining his Korean teammate to seal the top-two places, while Yadav and Verma took the third and fourth spots.

"He's been consistent this year and today I lost to him! It's good to see our young archers doing well ahead of next year's Asian Games," the former Asian Games champion Verma told PTI.

Verma has been coaching Yadav at the Yamuna Sports Complex in New Delhi since 2012 before he was picked by SAI NCOE.

World Championships silver medallist Jyothi Surekha Vennam stood fourth with 701 points as the Koreans took the top three places in the women's compound section.

Cadet archers Parneet Kaur, Priya Gurjar also impressed for the Indians, taking the fifth and sixth places, while Muskan Kirar had to settle for the seventh spot.

In the recurve section, Kapil (675) outshone Tokyo Olympic-returned Pravin Jadhav (670) and senior national champion Parth Salunkhe (670) to take the fifth, sixth and seventh places respectively.

Reigning world youth champion Komalika Bari had a disappointing outing, slipping to eighth place with 644 points. Ankita Bhakat, Madhu Vedwan and Ridhi were the top-three among the Indians, taking the fifth, sixth and seventh places overall.

Also Read : Archery to have full 10 events at next Asian Games

News Source : PTI

Dhaka, Nov 12 (Archery news) For the first time, the archery competition at the next year's Asian Games will have a full fledged 10 events, the World governing body (WA) announced here on Friday.

The Jakarta-Palembang 2018 Asiad had added the mixed disciplines but removed the two individual events in the compound section.

"But this time there would be a full slate of 10 competitions including the compound men's and women's individual section," a World Archery official told PTI here.

With India boasting a strong compound team, the development would uplift the spirit of Indian archers.

In 2018, India had returned with only two silver medals -- both in compound sections (men's and women's teams).

The 2022 Asian Games is slated in Hangzhou in China from September 10-25. The World Archery Asia Congress also re-elected Chung Euisun as its president.

Meanwhile, Archery Association of India secretary general Pramod Chandurkar was elected as an executive member of the WAA at its Congress here.

Chandurkar said they're aiming to bring the next edition of the Asian Archery Championships to India.

"We will push for the 2022 Asian Championships. Our focus would be to improve the sport at grassroots level in India," Chandurkar said.

The WAA consists of 28 countries with five executive members and three vice-presidents.

Also Read : Haryana recurve archers grab top honours in first Khelo India North Zone meet

News Source : PTI

Sonepat, Nov 7 (Archery news) Haryana topped the medal tally in the recurve section, while Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, SAI National Centre of Excellence and Punjab also impressed in the first Khelo India Archery Tournament (North Zone) here on Sunday.

Sachin Gupta of Haryana led the show in the senior recurve section and his fellow archers made a clean sweep in the junior recurve women's section to ensure a top finish.

The tournament was conducted for the archers from the northern zone -- Delhi, Haryana, Chandigarh, Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttrakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan -- to give them exposure at the domestic level.

A total of 91 recurve archers -- 53 men and 38 women -- and 76 compound archers -- 49 men and 27 women -- took part in the inaugural edition.

The Khelo India Archery events would gradually be held regularly in different times of the year by incorporating them in the calendar, Archery Association of India president Arjun Munda said.

"Initially, the plan is to hold the Khelo India event on the first Sunday of every month, provided there is no conflict with other important events," Munda said.

"The purpose is to identify the hidden talents and nurture them by providing competition opportunities to those who do not get enough competitions.

"Both AAI and SAI hope that such an event will boost the development of grassroots and hidden archers and at the same time improve the performance of elite archers," he added.

Also Read : Surekha and Verma to lead India's charge at Asian Archery Championship

News Source : PTI

New Delhi, Oct 11 (Archery news) World Championship silver medallists Abhishek Verma and Vennam Jyothi Surekha were on Monday named in India's squad for the upcoming Asian Championship in Dhaka.

Verma, Rishabh Yadav, Mohit and Aman Saini form the compound men's team while the women's team features Surekha, Muskan Kirar, Priya Gurjar and Parneet Kaur as the Archery Association of India (AAI) announced the team.

The 22nd edition of the continental tournament will be held in Dhaka, Bangladesh from November 13 to 19.

Following the World Championship in the USA in September, Verma and Surekha shot perfect scores of 150 in their respective gold medal matches to emerge as individual champions at the 40th NTPC National Archery Championships in Jamshedpur last Wednesday.

In men's recurve, the Indian team comprises Kapil, Parth Salunkhe, Sukhchain Singh and Pravin Jadhav.

The women's recurve team consists of Ridhi, Ankita Bhakat, Komalika Bari and Madhu Vedwan.

Both Verma and Surekha had bagged a mixed team silver in the World Championships in Yankton, USA, before their impressing performance in the Nationals at the Tata Archery Academy ground.

In the individual event at Yankton, the 23-year-old Ankita held her nerves to eliminate Korean world number four Kang Chae-Young, a team Olympic gold-medallist at the recently-concluded Tokyo Games.

Komalika won the Under-21 World Championship title in Wroclaw, Poland to add to the U-18 title she won in Madrid in 2019, becoming the second Indian woman to achieve the feat after Deepika Kumari.

It was a new-look Indian squad that took the field at the World Championships last month in the absence of established names such as Deepika, Atanu Das and Tarundeep Rai.

Also Read :  Jamshedpur all set to host senior archery nationals

News Source : PTI

Ranchi, Oct 1 (Archery news) Jharkhand's capital Jamshedpur is all set to host the 40th senior archery nationals (recurve and compound) for both men and women from Saturday.

The 10-day competition will be organised at the Tata Archery Academy as part of celebrations for the establishment's 25th anniversary.

Over 950 archers and team officials from 40 states and sports control/promotion boards have registered for the event.

The senior nationals will be conducted in three phases starting with Indian round (bamboo round) event on October 2-3 followed by compound event on October 5-6 and recurve (Olympic) event on October 8-9, Archery Association of India (AAI) said.

AAI president Arjun Munda, who is also the chief of Jharkhand Archery Association, will inaugurate the event on Saturday.

The last nationals was staged in Cuttack in March 2019. Thereafter, no national championship could be conducted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Also Read : World Cup Final: Deepika, Atanu lose bronze medal clashes; India return empty-handed

News source : PTI

Yankton (USA), Oct 1 (Archery News) Star archery couple Atanu Das and Deepika Kumari lost their respective bronze medal matches as India capped a poor show, returning empty-handed from the World Cup Final here.

In the absence of an Indian recurve coach, the couple struggled under cold and overcast conditions here on Friday.

Das lost a one-sided bronze playoff to reigning Olympic champion Mete Gazoz of Turkey 6-0 (27-29, 26-27, 28-30). He doubled up as Deepika's coach when the world number two lost in the shoot-off to Olympic team bronze-medallist Michelle Kroppen.

Making her eighth WCF appearance, world number two Deepika mis-fired a six to lose 5-6 (6-9) in the shoot-off.

Returning to action after more than two months following her quarterfinal exit at the Tokyo Games, a perfect set of 30 eluded the three-time Indian Olympian as her German rival stepped up early pressure to cruise to a 4-0 lead.

Michelle drilled in perfect scores in the first two sets (30-28, 30-29), while the third was a tie with both the archers shooting 28-all.

The world number 14 started to wobble in the fourth set, her arrow landing in the red circle (8), as Deepika seized the opportunity to win the set by one point (28-27).

Down 3-5, Deepika collected another 28 in the make-or-break fifth set to force a shoot-off.

But in the shoot-off, Deepika faltered shooting wide in the blue ring.

A winner of four silver medals and a bronze in the tournament, Deepika started off by defeating Olympic team silver-medallist Svetlana Gomboeva of Russia 6-4 in the quarterfinals.

In the semifinals, she lost to double Tokyo Olympics silver-medallist Elena Osipova of Russia 6-2.

Das began his campaign with a 6-2 win over Germany's Maximilian Weckmueller, only to go down to USA's world number one Brady Ellison 2-6.

According to sources, Deepika's childhood coach B Srinivas Rao was to join the duo at Yankton but the plan was shelved at the last moment.

"We had Lokesh Chand as compound coach, and Rao was to travel there but at last moment the plan was changed," an official told PTI without getting into specifics.

Earlier on Thursday, ace compound archer Abhishek Verma failed to add to his three World Cup Final medals, making a first round exit with a loss to eventual silver medallist Braden Gellenthien of the USA.

Also Read : Verma makes first round exit from World Cup Final

News Source : PTI

Yankton (USA), Sep 30 (Archery News) Ace Indian compound archer Abhishek Verma endured a rare medal-less outing at World Cup Final as he went down to eventual silver-winner Braden Gellenthien of the USA in his first-round match here.

After a quiet start, the American world number four fired in five perfect 10s in a row, leaving the Indian to play a catch up game before losing by four points (142-146).

The 2014 Asian Games gold-medallist Verma, who qualified after winning the third stage of the World Cup in Paris, had won a silver in the 2015 edition.

In his previous World Cup Final appearance in 2018, Verma had clinched an individual bronze and a silver with Jyothi Surekha Vennam in mixed pair event.

All eyes would now be on the star couple of Deepika Kumari and Atanu Das who will begin their respective campaigns later on Thursday.

World number two Deepika has four silvers and a bronze medal from seven appearances at the World Cup Final, while for Das, this will be his debut at the season-ending competition.

Dola Banerjee is the only Indian to have won a gold medal at the World Cup Final in 2007.

Also Read : World Cup Final: All eyes on Deepika, Das as they return to action after Olympic flop show
 

News source : PTI