Indian Archery Squad For Asian Games 2026: Teenagers Kirti, Kumkum Make Headline; Deepika, Atanu, Verma Miss Out

Four-time Olympian Deepika Kumari, former India No. 1 Atanu Das and multiple Asian Games medallist Abhishek Verma failed to make India's archery squad for the Asian Games in Japan after a gruelling three-day selection trial which concluded in windy conditions at Sonepat on Monday.

Teenagers Kirti Sharma and Kumkum Mohod emerged as the biggest gainers in the women’s recurve section, while Olympian Ankita Bhakat sealed the third and final berth after defeating Deepika in a shoot-off.

In the compound section that fetched all the five gold medals on offer in the last Asian Games, veteran Jyothi Surekha Vennam remained the only experienced face to make the cut.

Abhishek endured a disappointing campaign and finished last among the top-eight archers.

India’s top compound archer and world No. 7 Rishabh Yadav also missed out, finishing fourth behind Andhra Pradesh’s Thirumuru Ganesh Mani Ratnam.

The trials, held at the SAI centre here, selected India’s squad for the Asian Games to be held in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, in September-October and the third and fourth stages of the World Cup.

The biggest surprise came in the women’s recurve section where 19-year-old Kirti topped the trials with 13.5 points, ahead of Maharashtra’s rising archer Kumkum Mohod, while Ankita secured the third spot.

Both Ankita and Deepika were tied on 10.75 points after three rounds spread across three days before Ankita prevailed in the decider.

Deepika will thus miss a second successive Asian Games. She had also missed the 2022 Hangzhou edition after the birth of her daughter.

Despite a decorated career with multiple World Cup medals and a Commonwealth Games title, Deepika is yet to win an individual medal at the Asian Games in three appearances since 2010.

Her best result remains the team bronze medal from the Guangzhou Games.

However, Deepika retained her place in the Indian team for the third and fourth stages of the World Cup circuit as the fourth-ranked archer.

Four archers compete in World Cups, while only three will travel for the Asian Games.

Kirti's Rise

Kirti’s rise has been remarkable.

Daughter of an iron gate welder from Haryana’s Jind district, she was inducted into the SAI Hazaribagh centre in Jharkhand in 2022 after talent scouting trials conducted under coach Udham Singh.

She made her India debut at the Bangkok Asia Cup Stage 1 in February this year and has since competed in three Asia Cups, winning a team bronze medal alongside Ridhi Phor and Ruma Biswas earlier this season.

Kirti also impressed in the elimination rounds during the trials, defeating Ankita Bhakat and Ridhi Phor on her way to the top finish.

“We had given out an advertisement and she came all the way from Haryana for the trials. She has been training with us for the last five years,” an elated coach Singh told PTI.

By virtue of Kirti topping the trials, Singh will travel with the Indian women’s team as coach for the Asian Games.

Backing the young squad, Singh said the newcomers deserved an opportunity after proving themselves in difficult conditions.

“We have seen what India achieved with experienced archers at the Olympics. Now youngsters should get their chance. They have come through an extreme grind and defeated big names in tough windy conditions. I’m confident they will do well,” he said.

Dhiraj Tops Recurve

In the recurve men’s section, India’s top-ranked archer Dhiraj Bommadevara dominated the trials from start to finish, topping the standings with 15.5 points.

Neeraj Chauhan finished second with 12.25 points, while Yashdeep Bhoge took the third spot with 11 points.

Dhiraj and Yashdeep have already represented India together in the World Cups at Puebla and Shanghai this season and capped a first-round exit losing to Bangladesh earlier this month.

Atanu Das narrowly missed out on the Asian Games squad by one point but retained his place as the fourth member for the World Cup stages.

Jyothi Shines

In the compound section, Jyothi Surekha Vennam remains the only experienced face after India’s clean sweep of all five gold medals at the Hangzhou Asian Games.

A veteran of three Asian Games gold medals along with one silver and one bronze, Jyothi topped the women’s trials with 15.5 points despite struggling for form in recent months.

Chikitha Taniparthi and teenager Prithika Pradeep completed the women’s compound team.

The men’s compound section also saw major upsets.

Veteran Verma, a multiple Asian Games gold and silver medallist, endured a disappointing outing and finished last among the top-eight archers.

Top Indian compound archer and world No. 7 Yadav also failed to make the Asian Games cut after ending fourth behind Andhra Pradesh’s Thirumuru Ganesh Mani Ratnam.

World University Games champion Sahil Jadhav continued his impressive form by topping the trials with 15.25 points.

Kushal Dalal finished second with 12.5 points, while Thirumuru grabbed the third and final Asian Games berth with 10.75 points.

Expectations will once again be high from India’s compound archers after their golden sweep in Hangzhou, though the challenge could be tougher this time with a relatively inexperienced squad and no foreign coach currently in place after legendary Italian Sergio Pagni joined the Korean national setup.

Indian Squad For Asian Games 2026

Recurve Men: Dhiraj Bommadevara (SSCB), Neeraj Chauhan (AIPSCB), Yashdeep Bhoge (RSPB), Atanu Das (PSPB).

Recurve Women: Kirti Sharma (Haryana), Kumkum Mohod (Maharashtra), Ankita Bhakat (Jharkhand), Deepika Kumari (PSPB).

Compound Men: Sahil Jadhav (RSPB), Kushal Dalal (Haryana), Thirumuru Ganesh Mani Ratnam (Andhra Pradesh), Rishabh Yadav (Haryana).

Compound Women: Jyothi Surekha Vennam (AAI), Chikitha Taniparthi (Telangana), Prithika Pradeep (Maharashtra), Parneet Kaur (Punjab).