Ranchi (Jharkhand) [India], September 30 (ANI): Arjun Munda, President of the Archery Association of India, on Tuesday praised Indian archers and their coaches for their strong performance at the Asian Games 2026.
He said their success has made the country proud and highlighted India’s qualification for the LA 2028 Olympics in the compound mixed team event, noting that India became the first country to secure qualification in the discipline.
“Words of congratulation fall short when describing the performance of our athletes. Words of praise are insufficient to acknowledge the hard work and contributions of our coaches; no amount of appreciation is enough. The athletes’ performance, the result of the coaches’ expert grooming, inspires and fills every Indian with pride. Through this game, we have secured our eligibility for the LA 2028 Games; our qualification status is now evident to the world. We have become the first country globally to qualify for the Olympics in this discipline,” Arjun Munda told ANI.
India swept all three compound archery gold medals on offer in the team events at the 2026 Asian Games on Wednesday, with Chikitha Taniparthi and Sahil Jadhav also securing a quota place for the LA 2028 Olympics.
Chikitha and Sahil held their nerve to defeat the Republic of Korea’s Park Jungyoon and Choi Yonghee in a shoot-off after the gold-medal contest ended level at 157-157.
Earlier, Chikitha and Sahil edged past Thailand’s Kanoknapus Kaewchomphu and Peerawat Rattanapongkiat 156-155 in a closely contested semi-final.
The victory marked Chikitha’s second gold medal of the day. She had earlier teamed up with Jyothi Surekha Vennam and Prithika Pradeep to successfully defend India’s women’s compound team title.
India completed a clean sweep of all three compound archery team gold medals when Sahil, Ganesh Mani Ratnam Thirumuru and Kushal Dalal edged past China 238-237 in a thrilling men’s team final.
After two nines left India trailing 60-58 at the end of the opening end, the Indian trio responded brilliantly, shooting a perfect 180 with their remaining 18 arrows to seal a dramatic victory. (ANI)
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