Archery World Cup 2023 Review: India's medallists, high and lows in Antalya

Indian archers finished with four medals and played their part in some huge upsets.

The opening edition of the Archery World Cup Stage I 2023 concluded on a great note. India finished the campaign clinching four medals (two gold, one silver, and one bronze medal ) across the recurve and the compound sections. India started the 2023 season by playing in the Asia Cup Stage I and entered the World Cup with limited game time. 

Atanu Das made his entry into the men’s recurve side after a gap of almost a year. Experienced archer and Olympian Tarundeep Rai held on to his spot with 21-year-old Dhiraj Bommadevara turning out to be an unsung hero at the Archery World Cup. Neeraj Chauhan couldn't contribute much as he finished the qualification stage in the 90th spot and lost in the opening round of individual men’s recurve.

Jyoti Surekha Vennam was the standout performer for India in the compound section, clinching two gold medals (individual and mixed team compound). Ojas Pravin Deotale provided Jyothi good support in the mixed event to clinch India’s first medal at the World Cup. The men’s compound missed the presence of star archer Abhishek Verma who couldn't make it to the squad after finishing fifth at the National trials.

India’s performance at the Archery World Cup Stage I 2023 

Compound Archery (Men’s Result)

Individual

Ojas Pravin Deotale - Quarterfinals

Rajat Chauhan - Quarterfinals

Prathamesh Samadhan Jawkar - Quarterfinals

Rishabh Yadav - Round 1

Pravin was the highest-seeded (15th) Indian player after the qualification round and went on to pair up with Jyoti in the mixed team. The overall performance in the individual circuit was decent with three archers making it to the quarterfinals. In the team event, India was seeded sixth and lost in the second round to Chinese Taipei. 

Women’s Result

Jyothi Surekha Vennam - Gold medal

Avneet Kaur - Round 3

Sakshi Chaudhary - Round 2

Aditi Gopichand Swami - Round 2

Jyothi Surekha Vennam equalled the qualification record on the opening day of the World Cup, scoring 713. She started India’s campaign on a positive note and was the top seed ahead of star archer Sara Lopez. The 26-year-old qualified for the World Cup finals after securing the gold medal in the individual event.

India was awarded the top seed in the women’s team but couldn't capitalize on it losing the second round to the USA.  

Recurve

Mens' Result

Atanu Das - Round 4

Tarundeep Rai - Quarterfinals

Dhiraj Bommadevara - Bronze medal

Neeraj Chauhan - Round 1

Atanu Das made a good comeback to the international circuit and finished fourth in the qualification round. Dhiraj Bommadevara (15th) and Tarundeep Rai (21st) performed below par but showed good progress in the team event. Dhiraj got better off Tarundeep Rai in the semifinals and was the only Indian to reach the semis. On his way to the semifinals, Dhiraj defeated three-time Olympic medallist Ellison Brady (10-9).

A lot was expected from Atanu Das after his heroics in the qualification round but he couldn't progress further, losing in the fourth round.

The men’s team clinched the silver medal losing to China in the final. The Indian trio came back strongly (from 0-4 to 4-4) but couldn't capitalize on the momentum, losing in the shoot-off by the barest of margin. Dhiraj went on to clinch the bronze medal by defeating Abdullin.

Womens' Result

Bhajan Kaur - Round 4

Aditi Jaiswal - Round 1

Simranjeet Kaur - Round 1

Ankita Bhakat - Round 3

The women’s recurve had a decent outing. Bhajan Kaur created a massive upset by defeating top seed Alejandra Valencia in round 3. In the team event, India lost to higher-seed Spain in the second round. 

Archery World Cup Group Stage I: Archers who impressed most

Jyothi Surekha Vennam

Jyothi was by far the standout athlete across both the compound and recurve section. The 26-year-old was involved in two gold medal matches and in the process equalled the World Record score (713) in the qualification round. Jyothi was instrumental in the mixed final as she scored 7 X's out of the eight shots. India missed out on creating a WR (by a point) scoring 149/150.

Dhiraj Bommadevara

Dhiraj claimed his maiden World Cup medal by winning the bronze at Archery World Cup Stage I 2023. The 21-year-old TOPS athlete created a major upset by defeating three time Olympic medallist Allison Brady (10-9) in the pre quarterfinals. Dhiraj had a good chance of reaching the finals leading 4-0 but due to inexperience couldnt capitalize on the momentum settling for the bronze.

Archery World Cup Group Stage I: Archers who disappointed most

Neeraj Chauhan

20-year-old UP athlete Neeraj Chauhan put up a below average performance by finishing in the 90th spot by scoring 639 in the qualification round. He lot in the opening round (men's individual) and couldnt be part of the men's team event due to a low score in qualification.

Rishabh Yadav

Rishabh finished in the 38th spot in men's recurve qualification and eventually lost in the opening round in the individual event. The 20-year-old has won several medals in Youth Championships and is slowly making a progress in the the senior setup.

The Archery World Cup Stage II is set to be held next month. South Korea is set to take part in Stage II and the competition shall get more aggressive.