Surekha, Dhiraj make the Indian Archery team for Asian games; Deepika, Atanu miss out

Andhra Pradesh compound archer Jyothi Surekha Vennam is part of the Indian archery squad for the Asian Games 2026 which will be held in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, from September 19.

Apart from Olympian Surekha, other Olympians like Dhiraj Bommadevara and Ankita Bhakat are also part of the squad. However, Olympian Deepika Kumari, who was also a part of the winning team at the Archery World Cup in Shanghai, missed out.

Deepika Kumari and Atanu Das finished fourth in the selection trials and narrowly missed making the cut

The 12-member squad was finalised after the second phase and final selection trials for the Asian Games and World Cup Stages 3 and 4 at the SAI NCOE in Sonipat, Haryana. India selected three men and women each in the recurve and compound categories.

The women’s recurve duo of Kumkum Mohod and Ankita Bhakat, who upset the People’s Republic of China for gold at the Archery World Cup in Shanghai recently, are in the squad. The men’s recurve squad will be led by Dhiraj Bommadevara in the absence of the experienced Atanu Das, who also failed to make the cut like his wife, Deepika.

Both Deepika Kumari and Atanu Das finished fourth in the selection trials and narrowly missed making the cut. Atanu Das competed at the Hangzhou 2023 Asian Games and helped India win a silver medal in the recurve team event.

Surekha to spearhead compound challenge

The women’s compound team will be led by world No. 3 Jyothi Surekha, who won three medals at the 2023 Asian Games, clinching gold in the individual, team and mixed teams’ events.

Defending Asian Games champion Ojas Deotale was another big name to miss out after the compound archer finished fifth in the selection trials.

India won a total of nine medals in archery at Hangzhou 2023, including five gold, two silver and two bronze.

The Indian archery squad for the Asian Games 2026 will also represent the nation at the World Cup Stages 3 and 4. World Cup Stages 3 is scheduled to take place in June at Antalya, Türkiye, while Stage 4 will be held in Madrid, Spain, in July.

Indian archery squad:

Recurve men: Dhiraj Bommadevara, Neeraj Chauhan, Yashdeep Bhoge.

Recurve women: Kirti Sharma, Kumkum Anil Mohod, Ankita Bhakat.

Compound men: Sahil Jadhav, Kushal Dalal, Thirumuru Ganesh Mani Ratnam.

Compound women: Jyothi Surekha Vennam, Chikitha Taniparthi, Prithika Pradeep.