What is next for Indian archery after Tokyo Olympics?

The country once again failed to win a medal in the sport at the Olympic Games.

Archery is a sport from which Indians had high hopes at the Tokyo Olympics. It was expected that the long wait for a medal in the sport will finally come to an end in Tokyo. However, it wasn't meant to be.

The Indian archers failed to deliver and didn't even come close to claiming a medal. Atanu Das was the only one from the Indian contingent who showed promise before bowing out of the competition. The likes of Deepika Kumari, Pravin Jadhav and Tarundeep Rai were nowhere close to their best form.

With Tokyo 2020 now in the past, it is time for the Indian archers to turn their focus towards several upcoming competitions. Let’s take a look at the forthcoming archery competitions where Indians will be participating.

World Archery Championships 2021

The 51st edition of the World Archery Championships will take place later this month. After a much-needed break, the Indian archers will be back in action from 19th to 26th September. The competition take place in Yankton, United States.

In the previous edition in 2019, India had managed to win a total of three medals. Atanu Das, Pravin Jadhav and Tarundeep Rai had clinched a silver medal in the men's recurve team category. In the women's compound team category, Jyoti Surekha Vennam, Raj Kaur and Muskan Kirar had bagged a bronze.

Vennam was the only Indian to win a medal in the individual event, when she picked up a bronze medal in the women's individual compound category. This time around, the Indian archers will hope to increase their medal haul in the US.

Archery World Cup Final 2021

This year’s Archery World Cup Final, which marks the end of the 15th year of the international circuit, takes place on 29-30 September, immediately after the World Archery Championships in Yankton, USA. The Archery World Cup Final will take place at the same venue.

India are currently leading the medal table with seven gold and one bronze medal. Deepika Kumari (twice), Atanu Das and Abhishek Verma have all claimed gold medals in individual events at various stages of this season. The Indian archers will now be aiming to finish strongly, but it won't be easy.

Asian Archery Championships 2021

The Indian archers will next be in action on the continental stage. The 22nd edition of the Asian Archery Championships will take place in Dhaka, Bangladesh from 13th to 19th November. In the previous edition in 2019, India had finished in second place in the medal table. A total of seven medals were picked up, as the Indian contingent finished just behind the traditional powerhouse, South Korea.

Four of those were bronze medals, all of which came courtesy of recurve archery. Atanu Das won a bronze in the men's individual event. A similar outcome came from the men's, women's and mixed teams. The men's team consisted of Atanu Das, Jayanta Talukdar and Tarundeep Rai. Deepika Kumari, Ankita Bhakat and Bombayla Devi represented India in the women's team. A mixed team bronze arrived courtesy of Deepika Kumari and Atanu Das.

The performances in compound archery were much better. One gold and two silver medals came from the Indian compound archers. The men's and women's teams both won silver medals. Abhishek Verma, Rajat Chauhan and Mohan Bhardwaj made up the men's team. The women's trio was Jyothi Surekha Vennam, Muskan Kirar and Priya Gurjar. The memorable gold medal came in the compound mixed team, due to the efforts of Abhishek Verma and Jyothi Surekha Vennam. In Dhaka this year, the Indian archers will once again aim to dominate the continental meet.

World Para Archery Championships 2022

There will be added interest in para archery in India now. Archer Harvinder Singh recently won a historic bronze medal at the Tokyo Paralympics. It was India's first-ever medal in the sport at the quadrennial event.

The 30-year-old Harvinder is the reigning Asian champion and will now aim to win a World Championships medal. Currently World No. 9, he will be aiming for another medal this time in Dubai, UAE. Rakesh Kumar and Vivek Chikara are also strong medal contenders. The competition will take place from 18th to 27th February next year.

Asian Games 2022

Archery is an optional sport at the Commonwealth Games. It has taken place only twice in the competition's history, in 1982 and 2010. Once again, archery will not be a part of the Commonwealth Games in 2022.

Therefore, the Indian archers will have their sole focus on the Asian Games. The 19th edition of the prestigious competition will take place in Hangzhou, China between September 10-25. Hangzhou will also become the third Chinese city to host the continental meet after Beijing (1990) and Guangzhou (2010).

The Asian Games will include athletes from Oceania for the first time. In the previous edition in Jakarta, the Indian recurve archers had a campaign to forget. They couldn't achieve any podium finishes. However, the compound archers once again delivered a couple of medals for the country. Silver medals were won in both the men's and women's compound team categories. A better showing is expected when the Indian contingent will make the trip to Hangzhou next year.

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