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Fuge and the rest of the squad — Rishabh Yadav, Aman Saini, Jyothi Surekha Vennam (Pictured above), Parneet Kaur and Krithika Pradep — will start their quest to make the two-member team that will represent India at LA three years from now. (Credit: World Archery)
Every time compound archery gets bumped up, there is a return to the fold. Compound archery’s inclusion in the 2018 Asian Games programme resulted in Rajat Chauhan ditching recurve. Earlier this year, Prathamesh Fuge was welcomed back after Los Angeles 2028 penciled the mixed team format as a medal sport. Fuge is one of the six members of the Indian squad at the World Archery Championships in Gwangju, Korea — the first since compound became an Olympic sport. National archery coach Jiwanjot Singh Teja says when Fuge said he wanted to have a shot at being part of the mixed team at the Los Angeles Olympics, his mind went back to the time when Chauhan made the switch back.
“That’s what the compound mixed team event’s inclusion in the LA Olympics has done for compound archers. When Prathemesh talked about his return to compound archery, I was taken back to the days when Rajat Chauhan returned to compound archery for 2018 Asian Games, where he won the team silver medal,” Teja told The Indian Express.
Fuge and the rest of the squad — Rishabh Yadav, Aman Saini, Jyothi Surekha Vennam, Parneet Kaur and Krithika Pradep — will start their quest to make the two-member team that will represent India at LA three years from now.
“Each member of the Indian compound team understands the importance of the mixed team event in Gwangju. Any one of the six compound archers can make it to the mixed team depending on the individual rankings,” Teja said.
Teja is also keen that the mixed team returns to the podium at the World Championships with India’s solitary medal in the event coming in 2021 in Yankton, USA, when the pair of Abhishek Verma and Jyothi won the silver medal. Verma and Jyothi had scored a win over Korean pair of Kim Jongho and Kim Yunhee in the semis before the loss against Daniel Munoz and Sara Lopez of Columbia in the final.
Good medal haul
At the World Cups, Indian teams have been among the medalists.
Earlier this year, the duo of Rishab Yadav and current world number No.3 Jyothi won the gold in the mixed compound team event in the Archery World Cup Stage 1 in Florida with a 153-151 win over the Chinese Taipei team of Huang I-Jou and Chen Chieh-Lun. Since then, India has won two more medals in the mixed team format — Abhishek Verma and Madhura Dhamangaonkar winning the bronze in Shanghai World Cup Stage 2 and Jyothi and Yadav winning the bronze in the Madrid World Cup Stage 4.
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“Our archers, be it Rajat Chauhan or Abhishek Verma or Jyothi, all cherish competing in all the three events — individual, team as well mixed team in World Cups or other international competitions. In practice too, we make them shoot 200-300 arrows as competing in three events means they have three days in the competition. While the format for the LA Olympics has not been finalised yet, we believe it will be based on rankings and continental quotas and qualifiers. While at the World Cups or World Championships the team’s place in the draw is determined on individual rankings, we have to see how the system will work for the compound mixed team format in LA. But podium finishes in World Championships as well as the World Cup stages will be handy for world rankings,” Teja said.
Nitin Sharma is an Assistant Editor with the sports team of The Indian Express. Based out of Chandigarh, Nitin works with the print sports desk while also breaking news stories for the online sports team. A Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award recipient for the year 2017 for his story ‘Harmans of Moga’, Nitin has also been a two-time recipient of the UNFPA-supported Laadli Media Awards for Gender Sensitivity for the years 2022 and 2023 respectively. Nitin mainly covers Olympics sports disciplines with his main interests in shooting, boxing, wrestling, athletics and much more. The last 17 years with The Indian Express has seen him unearthing stories across India from as far as Andaman and Nicobar to the North East. Nitin also covers cricket apart from women’s cricket with a keen interest. Nitin has covered events like the 2010 Commonwealth Games, the 2011 ODI World Cup, 2016 T20 World Cup and the 2017 AIBA World Youth Boxing Championships. An alumnus of School of Communication Studies, Panjab University, from where he completed his Masters in Mass Communications degree, Nitin has been an avid quizzer too. A Guru Nanak Dev University Colour holder, Nitin’s interest in quizzing began in the town of Talwara Township, a small town near the Punjab-Himachal Pradesh border. When not reporting, Nitin's interests lie in discovering new treks in the mountains or spending time near the river Beas at his hometown. ... Read More
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