Ankita, Dhiraj strike gold as India finish with 10 medals at Asian Archery c’ships

India’s recurve archers Ankita Bhakat and Dhiraj Bommadevara capped off a brilliant campaign at the Asian Archery Championships by winning the women’s and men’s individual gold medals, respectively, as India finished with a rich haul of 10 medals in Dhaka on Friday.

Dhiraj produced a commanding performance in an all-Indian final, defeating compatriot Rahul 6–2 to claim the men’s recurve individual crown. After the opening set ended 1–1, he seized control with a 29–26 win in the second set and maintained his advantage despite a drawn third set. He sealed the contest by taking the final set 28–26.

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Earlier in the day, Ankita Bhakat delivered a landmark triumph, beating reigning Paris Olympics silver medallist Nam Su-hyeon of Korea 7–3 to clinch the women’s recurve individual title. In the semifinals, Ankita had prevailed in a tense shoot-off against five-time Olympian Deepika Kumari, winning 6–5.

India also secured the bronze in the women’s recurve individual event after Sangeeta edged Deepika 6–5 in another shoot-off in the third-place playoff. Sangeeta had earlier lost her semifinal to Nam Su-hyeon.

The morning session brought more success as India’s men’s recurve team, comprising Yashdeep Bhoge, Atanu Das, and Rahul, stunned Korea to lift their first team gold in the event since 2007. The match went down to a shoot-off at 4–4, with India taking the title after Rahul’s arrow finished closest to the centre despite both teams scoring 29.

However, the recurve mixed team of Anshika Kumari and Yashdeep narrowly missed out on a podium finish, losing the bronze medal match to Korea’s Jang Minhee and Seo Mingi.

On Thursday, India’s compound archers contributed five medals to the tally. The women’s compound final was an all-Indian affair, where reigning Asian Games champion Jyothi Surekha Vennam secured her third Asian Championships individual gold, defeating teenage compatriot Prithika Pradeep 147–145 after a near-flawless 149 in the semifinals.

Vennam, Prithika, and Deepshikha combined to capture the compound women’s team gold against Korea, while the men’s compound trio, comprising Abhishek Verma, Sahil Rajesh Jadhav, and Prathamesh Bhalchandra Fuge, settled for silver after a narrow 229–230 defeat to Kazakhstan.

The compound mixed team of Verma and Deepshikha rounded off India’s medal rush with a gold, defeating Bangladesh’s Bonna Akter and Himu Bachhar 155–153.