OKAZAKI, SEP 30 (IANS): India completed a clean sweep of all three compound archery team gold medals on offer at the Asian Games on Wednesday, underlining the country’s dominance in the discipline with victories in the women’s team, mixed team and men’s team events.
The unprecedented haul began with the women’s trio of Chikitha Taniparthi, Prithika Pradeep and Jyothi Surekha Vennam successfully defending their title, before Chikitha and Sahil Jadhav secured a dramatic mixed team victory over South Korea. The men’s trio of Kushal Dalal, Sahil Jadhav and Ganesh Mani Ratnam Thirumuru then completed the sweep by edging China in a thrilling final.
It was a day in which India produced three victories through three distinctly different contests, a world-record-equalling performance in the women’s team final, a shoot-off thriller in the mixed team event and a dramatic comeback in the men’s team final.
The women’s team set the tone by defeating China 238-234. India, which had won silver in 2018 and bronze in 2014, successfully retained the gold it had claimed at the previous edition.
The Indian trio matched the world record of 238 set by South Korea at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon. After establishing an early advantage, Chikitha, Prithika and Jyothi maintained their composure through the latter stages, producing a perfect final end to deny China any opportunity to close the gap.
The mixed team final that followed was considerably more dramatic. Chikitha and Sahil were locked at 157-157 with South Korea’s Park Jungyoon and Choi Yonghee after the regulation contest. With the gold to be decided by a shoot-off, Chikitha and Sahil both found the 10-ring, while Choi could manage only a nine, handing India another gold.
The victory also secured India a quota place for the mixed team event at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics, where compound archery is set to make its Olympic debut.
Chikitha claimed her second gold of the Games, having already featured in the women’s team triumph, while Sahil added his first gold.
India then completed the sweep in the men’s team final, where China appeared to have control for much of the contest.
Kushal, Sahil, and Ganesh trailed 58-60 after the opening end and were still two points behind at the halfway stage. China extended its advantage to 179-178 after three ends, leaving India with little room for error.
The Indian trio responded with a perfect final end. China, meanwhile, dropped an eight with its opening arrow, allowing India to overturn the deficit and establish a lead that ultimately proved decisive. China produced three successive 10s to finish, but the damage had already been done as India prevailed 238-237.
The men’s victory completed India’s hat-trick of compound gold medals on a day when the country’s archers repeatedly demonstrated their ability to deliver under pressure.
The clean sweep also extends India’s remarkable record in compound archery at the Asian Games. At Hangzhou 2023, Indian compound archers won all five gold medals available in the discipline, while the recurve teams contributed a silver and a bronze.
With Wednesday’s three golds, India have once again underlined their status as the dominant force in Asian Games compound archery. The focus now shifts to the individual events, with Ganesh and Chikitha, among the Indian archers, scheduled to compete in the individual quarterfinals on Thursday.
For a discipline that is still awaiting its Olympic debut, India’s performance in Okazaki has added another significant chapter to its Asian Games success story.
Neeru, Kynan clinch trap mixed team gold with Asian record
India’s Neeru Dhanda and Kynan Chenai won the gold medal in the trap mixed team event at the 2026 Asian Games on Wednesday, staging a remarkable comeback and setting a new Asian record. The Indian pair finished with 34 hits, surpassing the previous Asian record of 33 set by Qatar earlier in 2026. Qatar claimed silver with 32 hits, while China secured bronze with 23.
India endured a difficult start in the four-team final, managing only six hits from their first 10 shots and finding themselves at the bottom of the standings. However, Neeru and Kynan bounced back impressively in the second series, hitting every target and moving level with Qatar on 16 hits after 20 shots. Their consistency ensured a podium finish after Iran was eliminated.
Despite a temporary interruption caused by a technical issue with the trap machinery, the Indian duo maintained their focus. They continued their flawless shooting, reaching 26 hits after 30 shots and advancing to a direct battle with Qatar for the gold medal after China’s elimination.
Holding their nerve in the decisive stages, Neeru and Kynan finished strongly to secure victory and rewrite the Asian record books.
The triumph marked a memorable achievement for Neeru, who had already won the women’s individual trap gold and a silver in the women’s team event, taking her medal tally at the Games to three. For Kynan, the victory added another gold to India’s growing shooting success, contributing to the country’s tally of nine gold medals and strengthening its position in the overall standings.
Sunil Kumar wins second consecutive bronze
Sunil Kumar became the first Indian Greco Roman wrestler to win two Asian Games medals after clinching a bronze in the men’s 87kg with a technical superiority win over Philippines’ Roberts Callum Johnston on the opening day of the wrestling competition, here Wednesday.
Locking his rival’s right arm, Sunil effected two take downs to quickly open up a 4-0 lead. A defensive Johnston was put on ground in ‘Par Terre’ position from where Sunil made more scoring moves to finish the bout in the first period itself.
Sunil had won a bronze in Hangzhou 2023 Games, ending a 13-year year wait for India for medal in the Greco Roman style.
Before that Ravinder Singh and Sunil Kumar Rana had won bronze in 2010 Guangzhou Games.
The 27-year-old Haryana wrestler was left to fight for a bronze medal after losing his semifinal by technical superiority to Japan’s Taizo Yoshida.
He had begun with a confident technical superiority win over Tajikistan’s Muhammad Sultonzoda.
Priya, Kapil signs off with bronze medal
Olympic medal-winning boxer Lovlina Borgohain sealed her place in the 75kg final but Priya Ghanghas and Kapil Pokhariya signed off with bronze medals at the Asian Games here on Wednesday.
Last edition’s silver-medallist, Lovlina eked out a 3-2 spilt decision win over reigning 70kg world champion Natalya Bogdanova of Kazakhstan in the 75kg semifinal bout.
With the win, she becomes the first Indian woman boxer to reach back-to-back Asian Games finals, assuring the country of at least a silver.
However, 20-year-old Priya, making her Games debut, went down 1-4 to a much more experienced opponent China’s Yang Chengyu in a bruising 60kg semifinal bout.
Another Indian debutant, Kapil went down by a similar 1-4 margin to reigning world champion Turabek Khabibullaev of Uzbekistan in his 90kg semifinal to settle for bronze.
Indian boxers have bettered their last edition’s performance (one silver, three bronze) by ensuring a six-medal haul this time.
Alongside Lovlina, Parveen Hooda (65kg) and Ankush Panghal (80kg) will fight for gold on Friday.
While super-heavy weight boxer Narender Berwal, Priya and Kapil signed off with bronze medals.