ANTALYA (TURKEY): Indian archery endured a forgettable outing at Stage 3 of the World Cup here on Saturday, returning empty-handed in a performance that raised serious questions over team selection, preparation and mental fortitude, especially with the Asian Games just a year away.
The high of Shanghai last month, where India stood second on the medal tally with two gold, one silver and four bronze medals, now seems like a distant past.
The third leg in Antalya saw both recurve and compound archers flop spectacularly, with not a single podium finish, even in their traditionally strong compound category.
A day after India’s compound archers crashed out in both individual and team events, the recurve results were equally dismal, with seasoned names like four-time Olympians Deepika Kumari and Tarundeep Rai also failing to reach the medal rounds.
The only fight came from Simranjeet Kaur, who shocked everyone by stretching Korean Olympic gold medallist An San to a shoot-off in the quarterfinals on Saturday.
Simranjeet, who barely made the cut at 54th with the third-lowest qualification score, was on the verge of a historic win, leading 5-3 and needing just a point to seal it against Korean star An San.
But, as has often been the case with Indian archers, nerves took over in the decider. A poor fifth set saw her shoot a 5 and an 8, allowing An San to force a shoot-off. The Korean nailed an 11 under the new scoring system, while Simranjeet faltered with an 8, losing 5-6 (29-28, 24-29, 27-24, 27-27, 23-29) (8-11).
Her second set, where she landed an arrow in the blue ring (6), also proved costly.
An San, meanwhile, defeated Indian star Deepika three times in a row.
The South Korean had earlier ousted the Indian star in the second round with a 6-0 rout (29-30, 27-28, 28-30) dashing her hope for a successive medal. Deepika had bagged a bronze in Shanghai last month.
Deepika, the former world number 1, continues to falter against elite opponents and has failed to learn from repeated mistakes, particularly against the dominant Koreans.
Ankita Bhakat, who was India’s best archer in qualification at 32nd, exited in the opening round, losing 2-6 (27-26, 26-28, 29-30, 28-29) to Dunya Yenhihayat — another lead squandered after going up 2-0.
Former youth world champion and Shanghai bronze medallist Parth Salunkhe suffered a shock first-round exit to Lu Shuai of China 2-6 (28-29, 25-28, 28-25, 27-30), while Rai, at 41, showed little justification for his selection as he went down 2-6 to Germany’s Mathias Kramer (28-30, 29-28, 27-31, 29-32).
Another seasoned campaigner Atanu Das, after leading 4-2, surrendered meekly to world no. 1 Brady Ellison 4-6 (28-27, 30-31, 31-30, 30-31, 27-30) from being 4-2 up.
Dhiraj Bommadevara, India’s top qualifier with 13th rank, also threw away a 4-2 lead to lose 4-6 (30-30, 30-30, 31-30, 28-29, 28-30) to Chinese Taipei’s Tang Chin-Chun.
With this, India’s campaign in Antalya came to an end without a medal. The closest the team came to a podium finish was in the recurve men’s and compound women’s team events, but both units lost their respective bronze medal matches.
The compound women’s team had lost 238-239 to the USA by a single point.
The recurve men’s team was completely outplayed 1-5 by France.
The compound men’s team, once considered among the best in the world, crashed out in the very first round.
The compound mixed team also couldn’t find synergy and exited in the quarterfinals, exposing their downward spiral.
In the recurve mixed team, things were worse as they couldn’t even make it past the opening round.
The recurve women’s team, after a promising start, folded in the quarterfinals.
In the individual compound category, Rishabh Yadav and Madhura Dhamangaonkar were the only bright spots, both reaching the quarterfinals before bowing out.
For India, the bigger concern lies in the alarming dip in form of top-ranked compound archers Abhishek Verma and Jyothi Surekha Vennam.
World no. 3 Jyothi, a consistent podium finisher until 2023, crashed out in the second round of 32, extending her medal drought beyond a year.
Her last medal came in April 2023 — a gold at the Shanghai World Cup. Since then, it’s been a downward spiral for the Asian Games gold medallist and world championship silver medallist.
Two-time Asian Games silver medallist Verma was eliminated in the round of 16 by teammate Rishabh Yadav. Verma hasn’t won a medal since June 2023 when he had won a gold in Medellin.
Questions will be asked on the team selection especially persisting with a Rai, who has shown little firepower in high-pressure events.
Deepika too continues to choke against elite rivals, particularly Koreans. With younger archers like Simranjeet showing grit and fresh form, India’s archery program needs a hard reboot — starting with braver selection policies and urgent mental conditioning before it’s too late.
With the Asian Games just over a year away and the LA Olympics looming next, India’s archery system must introspect.
Recurve archery remains stuck in a cycle of promise and heartbreak, while India’s dominance in compound is fading — a worrying sign with the discipline set to debut at the LA 2028 Olympics as a mixed team event.
Ironically, South Korea — a recurve powerhouse with 43 Olympic medals — is now rising fast in compound as well.
At Antalya, they won silver in women’s team and bronze in men’s, underlining their progress.
Han Seungyeon, who topped qualifying, is also in line for her maiden World Cup gold. (PTI)
