Antalya (Turkey), June 8: India will begin their preparations for the upcoming Asian Games with a completely revamped squad taking the field at the Archery World Cup Stage 3 beginning here on Tuesday.
The biggest talking point is the absence of star archer Deepika Kumari from the recurve women’s team event, barely a month after she spearheaded India’s stunning World Cup gold medal triumph in Shanghai, where the team upset Olympic champions South Korea and hosts China enroute to the title.
Following the Shanghai World Cup, the Archery Association of India (AAI) conducted selection trials for World Cup Stages 3 and 4 as well as the Asian Games.
The trials produced several surprises, with Deepika, her Olympian husband Atanu Das and reigning Asian Games compound champion Ojas Deotale all missing out the top-three spots.
With only three archers allowed per category at the Asian Games, Deepika and Atanu finished fourth in their respective trials.
While they remain part of the World Cup squads as fourth members, they will not be eligible to compete in team events.
Strategic shift
In a significant change, the AAI has decided that the fourth-ranked archer will not be considered for team events during the World Cup season, irrespective of the qualification scores. Earlier, the top three archers after qualification rounds formed the team.
But with only three athletes permitted at the Asian Games, the federation wants the designated trio to “build combinations and chemistry well in advance”.
“This is a new rule that will be in place in this World Cup so that there is team bonding and chemistry among the three members who will compete at the Asian Games,” an AAI official said.
As a result, Deepika and Atanu will only compete in individual events in Antalya, even if they top the trials.
For Deepika, it is another setback in an otherwise illustrious career.
The four-time Olympian lost a shoot-off to her Jharkhand teammate Ankita Bhakat for the third and final Asian Games spot behind teenagers Kirti Sharma and Kumkum Mohod.
One of India’s most decorated archers with multiple World Cup and Commonwealth Games medals, Deepika has endured heartbreak at both the Olympics and Asian Games.
She is yet to win an Olympic medal despite four appearances and has only one Asian Games medal – a team bronze from Guangzhou way back in 2010. Her absence from the team event will be keenly felt.
In Shanghai, Deepika’s experience proved invaluable as she guided and mentored younger teammates Kumkum and Ankita during India’s first World Cup gold medal in women’s recurve team competition since 2021.
With India currently without a permanent national coach, Deepika played a key role in strategy making and on-field guidance during that memorable campaign.
Kirti, Kumkum in focus
Attention will now shift to 19-year-old Kirti, who topped the Asian Games trials, as she faces her biggest test yet on the international stage.
Kirti made her India debut in the Asia Cup circuit last year and won a team bronze medal alongside Ridhi Phor and Ruma Biswas earlier this season.
While expectations will be high from the women’s recurve team following their Shanghai success, the men’s side will be eager to make a statement of their own. Olympian Dhiraj Bommadevara will lead the challenge alongside experienced campaigners Neeraj Chauhan and Yashdeep Bhoge.
Compound challenge
The compound section, however, faces perhaps its toughest test in the build-up to the Asian Games, which are a little over three months away.
India dominated the discipline at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou, sweeping all five gold medals under Italian coach Sergio Pagni. Since then, however, results have dipped.
Pagni left to join South Korea as technical head, and India struggled to secure a replacement before appointing American coach Dave Cousins through the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics cycle.
Cousins was expected to join before this World Cup but visa-related delays have pushed his arrival to later this month, according to the federation.
World University Games champion Sahil Jadhav, who claimed his maiden World Cup medal – a bronze – in only his second appearance on the global circuit will team up with Kushal Dalal and Thirumuru Ganesh Mani Ratnam in the men’s compound event.
The women’s compound team will be led by experienced campaigner Jyothi Surekha Vennam alongside Chikitha Taniparthi and 17-year-old Prithika Pradeep. (PTI)
