India’s men’s recurve archery team achieved a historic victory at the Asian Archery Championships, defeating South Korea in a thrilling shoot-off to secure their first gold medal in 18 years.The Indian team consisting of Yashdeep Bhoge, Atanu Das, and Rahul fought back from a 2-4 deficit to win 5-4 against the Korean team of Seo Mingi, Kim Yechan, and Jang Jiho, ending Korea’s dominance since 2009.In the shoot-off, both teams scored 29 points, but India emerged victorious as Atanu Das’s perfect 10 was closer to the center than Korea’s shot. This marked India’s first Asian Championship men’s team gold since 2007.India’s total medal count at the championships increased to four gold and two silver medals. The compound squad had already secured three gold and two silver medals the previous day.The compound archers’ success was highlighted by Jyothi Surekha Vennam’s outstanding performance, winning both team and individual gold medals.The victory held special significance for recurve men’s team coach Rahul Banerjee, who was part of the 2007 championship team alongside Mangal Singh Champia and Jayanta Talukdar.Banerjee, the 2010 Commonwealth Games gold-medallist, celebrated this triumph as a coach, with his protege Atanu and wife Deepika Kumari in the squad.“It’s really fulfilling as a coach as we defeated Korea and didn’t choke. Atanu and I were discussing last night that we have not won a gold for a long time and it’s finally fulfilled. The next target is Asian Games definitely,” Banerjee told PTI from Dhaka.Despite Korea competing without Olympic champion Kim Woojin, their team featured promising talents, including national trials topper Seo Mingi and Chengdu University Games gold-medallist Kim Yechan. “They are not their top-three archers but after the World Championships they had the trial for Asians and these were picked. As far as my knowledge is concerned, they are their top four, five, six archers. In terms of quality, the Koreans are Koreans — the difference among their top five is minimal,” Banerjee explained.The final match was intensely competitive. Both teams scored 56 points in the first set, with Korea starting with an 8.The second set also ended in a tie at 56 points, despite India scoring in the red 7-point ring once.Korea took the lead with 57 points in the third set, while India struggled with four 8s and one 10, falling behind 2-4.India made a strong comeback in the fourth set, scoring two consecutive 10s and winning 57-53 to force a 4-4 tie and the decisive shoot-off.The women’s team, mixed team, and Jyothi secured gold medals, while the men’s team and young Prithika Pradeep earned silver medals.India has opportunities for more medals in individual recurve events, with Deepika Kumari, Ankita Bhakat, and Sangeeta reaching women’s semifinals, while Dhiraj Bommadevara and Rahul advancing to men’s semifinals.
