Asian Games 2026: Dhiraj Bommadevara And Chikitha Taniparthi Lead Indian Archery Qualification Dominance

Dhiraj Bommadevara and Chikitha Taniparthi led India's strong start to the Asian Games archery competition, topping the men's recurve and women's compound individual qualification respectively, while also securing the top spot in the compound mixed team qualification in Okazaki on Saturday.

Fresh from winning a historic World Cup Final, Dhiraj's stunning 698-point effort in the morning not only set a new Asian Games qualification record but also helped India secure second place in the men's recurve team and recurve mixed team seedings.

Chikitha, who topped the women's compound qualification with 705 points, also powered India to second place in the women's compound team event, while the compound men's team finished third, with Sahil Jadhav's fifth-place individual finish leading the charge.

India are the defending champions in all five compound events, having swept all five gold medals at the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023.

The only recurve team to finish outside the top five here was the women's side, which qualified sixth, with teenagers Kumkum Mohod (9th) and Kirti Sharma (16th) made the individual elimination rounds, while veteran Ankita Bhakat failed to qualify.

Dhiraj, currently ranked fourth in the world, shot 348 with his first 36 arrows before adding 350 in the second half, dropping just 10 points, to finish on 698 out of a possible 720.

His score bettered the previous Asian Games qualification record of 690 set by Korean Lee Woo Seok in Hangzhou.

Korea's Kim Je Deok, a member of the Paris Olympics gold-medal winning team, finished second with a personal best score of 693, while Chinese Taipei's Chin-Hun Tang was third with 692. Woo Seok finished fourth with 687.

Dhiraj's top finish earned him a bye into the second round of the 64-archer individual elimination draw.

Woo Seok, the Paris Olympics bronze medallist, could be a potential semifinal opponent if both progress that far. Dhiraj leads their head-to-head record 2-1.

The 25-year-old Army archer, who also won a maiden World Cup gold this year, will be looking to go further this time. He reached the quarterfinals at Hangzhou.

India have never won a gold in the recurve section at the Asian Games, with Tarundeep Rai's silver in 2010 remaining the country's best finish, and Dhiraj's stunning form will give them renewed hope.

Setback for Korea

There was a major surprise for Korea as legendary archer Kim Woojin missed the individual elimination round.

Woojin, who was eyeing a third Asian Games gold, finished third among the Korean archers and missed the cut, with only the top two from each country advancing to the 64-player elimination draw.

Dhiraj's score also helped India finish second in the men's recurve team qualification behind Korea.

The second-seeded Indians have received a bye into the pre-quarterfinals and will face the Philippines.

India had won a silver in the men's recurve team event at Hangzhou.

Dhiraj and Kumkum also combined for 1364 points to give India the second seed in the recurve mixed team event behind South Korea.

The Indian pair have received a bye into the pre-quarterfinals.

In the women's recurve individual qualification, teenagers Kumkum and Kirti made the elimination cut, finishing ninth and 16th with 666 and 653 points respectively.

Veteran Ankita Bhakat, however, missed the individual knockout after finishing third among the Indians.

The women's recurve team qualified sixth for the elimination rounds and will begin its campaign against Mongolia.

Compound Qualifiers

In the compound section, Chikitha topped the women's individual qualification with 705 points from a maximum 720.

Iran's Bita Asheghzadeh Oskouei was a close second with 704, while Korea's Park Jungyoon and Kang Yeonseo took the third and fourth spots.

Triple Asian Games gold medallist Jyothi Surekha Vennam was the second-best Indian at 13th and made the individual elimination cut.

Teenager Prithika Pradeep, who won a maiden World Cup bronze in Madrid this year, scored 695 but missed the individual knockout after finishing third among the Indians.

Chikitha's performance also helped India finish second in the women's compound team qualification behind China. The Indian team will begin its campaign against Mongolia in the 16-team draw.

India's compound men's team finished third behind China and Korea.

Jadhav was the best Indian individually, finishing fifth with 709 points, while Ganesh Mani Ratnam Thirumuru took 14th place to also qualify for the individual elimination round. Dalal missed the individual cut.

The Indian men's compound team will begin its campaign against the UAE in the first round of the 16-team draw.

In their title defence, India topped the compound mixed team qualification, with the top-seeded pair set to face Mongolia in the opening round.

The eliminations will get underway on Sunday.