Compound archers dominate with mixed team gold, clean sweep in men’s individual

Indian compound archers delivered a dominant performance, clinching the mixed team gold and women’s team silver, while also sweeping the men’s individual podium at the Asia Cup-World Ranking Tournament Stage 1 on Friday.

With the addition of the individual medals, India’s overall tally swelled to two gold, two silver and four bronze medals, matching their eight-medal haul from the previous edition.

The Indian contingent also remained in contention in two more finals later in the day — women’s recurve individual (Ridhi Phor) and men’s recurve team, as they are all set to surpass the tally of the 2025 Stage 1 event held here.

The highlight of the day was a clean sweep in the men’s compound individual section, where Uday Kamboj edged past Prathamesh Jawkar 145-144 in a thrilling all-Indian final to clinch his maiden international gold, while seasoned campaigner Rajat Chauhan secured bronze. It was an ice-cool Chauhan who confirmed the Indian clean sweep when he used all his experience to drill in three perfect arrows in the final end to down local favourite Peerawat Rattanapongkiat 145-144 in a tense bronze playoff. The 31-year-old former World Championships silver medallist had a two-point deficit after three ends.

Chauhan overturned the deficit in the fourth end, where he dropped just one point while Peerawat slipped to 27 points, shooting in the ‘8-ring’.

Locked 115-all heading into the final end, Chauhan struck three perfect 10s to seal the match by a solitary point to earn India’s fourth bronze medal.

It also confirmed a clean sweep by the country’s archers in the event as it was an all-Indian final in the following match.

Kamboj stuns Jawkar for maiden gold: In a battle of two 22-year-olds, comeback man Kamboj emerged victorious in a closely-fought contest against the more decorated Prathamesh Jawkar, winning 145-144 to claim his maiden international gold. The match saw momentum fluctuating, with former World Cup and Asian Games gold medallist Jawkar leading 59-57 after the second end.

Kamboj, however, bounced back to level the scores at 87-87 in the third end before capitalising on a slight lapse from his opponent in the fourth end to take a 116-115 lead. He then held his nerve in the final end to seal a memorable win in his comeback tournament.

Eighteen-year-old Tejal Salve defeated Mariia Dimidiuk, a Russian archer competing under a neutral flag, 144-135 to win the bronze in the women’s compound individual section.

Tejal dropped just six points across 15 arrows in a clinical performance to secure her second Asia Cup medal, having won gold in Stage 2 in Singapore earlier.

Mixed team gold for Chauhan-Chikitha:  Earlier in the morning session, the top-seeded compound mixed team pair of Chikitha Taniparthi and Chauhan held their nerve to edge past second-seeded Malaysia 158-156 in a tense gold-medal clash.

In a contest defined by precision and composure, the difference boiled down to narrow margins as India dropped just two points across 16 arrows, while Malaysia dropped four.

The Indian duo got off to a perfect start with four consecutive 10s and maintained their rhythm despite minor lapses in the middle phase. After three ends, they held a slender one-point lead at 118-117.

The Malaysian pair of Fatin Nurfatehah Mat Salleh and Mohd Juwaidi Mazuki had briefly seized momentum in the third end, shooting a perfect 40 while India managed 39.

However, in the decisive final end, Chikitha and Chauhan showcased their experience under pressure, firing four successive 10s to close out the match.

Malaysia could only manage 39, handing India a two-point victory.

This gold also marked a significant turnaround after India had returned empty-handed in the mixed team event in the previous edition.

Later, the Indian women’s compound team comprising Chikitha, Raj Kaur and Tejal Salve settled for silver after going down 227-229 to Kazakhstan’s Viktoriya Lyan, Diana Yunussova and Roxana Yunussova in the final.

Despite the loss, it was an improvement from their bronze-medal finish in the last edition.

India started strongly and led 115-113 at the halfway stage after 12 arrows.

However, a below-par third end saw them shoot 54, while Kazakhstan produced a decisive 58 to overturn the deficit and take a 171-169 lead.

The fourth and final end was evenly matched and locked at 58-58 as Kazakhstan’s third-end advantage proved decisive, as India had to settle for a silver.