Asian Games: India bid to upset powerhouse Republic of Korea in men's archery competitions

B Shrikant
Hangzhou, Sep 30 (IANS) Led by reigning World Champion Ojas Pravin Deotale, India will be aiming to tackle the mighty Republic of Korea in the Asian Games men's archery competition, which is set to start on October 1 and will run through till October 7.

The Republic of Korea (South Korea) are the favourites at the Hangzhou Asian Games, but India is a rising power that could surprise the mighty.

Six gold medals will be awarded in two disciplines, recurve and compound, each one in three categories: individual, team, and mixed team. The Indians are expected to rule the compound section for both men and women as, besides Deotale, they have the reigning World Champion Aditi Gopichand Swamy and Jyothi Surekha Vennam in their ranks.

While recurve is a modern take on traditional bows, the compound was invented in the 1960s with a more accurate and lighter system, including magnifying lenses and cables.

Recurve is also an Olympic sport, and the Hangzhou Asian Games is a qualifier for Paris 2024. Six quota places will be up for grabs: three men and three women. Compound is currently not an Olympic event but World Archery has recently announced that it is planning to introduce compound archery at the Olympics too.

At Jakarta-Palembang 2018, the Republic of Korea took gold and silver in the recurve individual.

However, at the 2023 World Archery Championships, the Republic of Korea missed the podium in both individual disciplines, with Ojas Pravin Deotale clinching gold in the individual compound.

In the Asia compound rankings, Indian archers, including the 21-year-old Deotale, take the top three spots.

In the Asia recurve rankings, archers from the Republic of Korea dominate the top three.

Kim Woojin is the recurve champion aiming for his third Asian Games individual title. The 31-year-old has two Olympic gold medals (Tokyo 2020 and Rio 2016).