OKAZAKI, September 27 — The archery qualification rounds of the 20th Asian Games opened on Saturday at the Okazaki Chuo Sogo Park Multipurpose Square in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, producing Games records and a string of career-best performances across the compound and recurve disciplines. In the compound women’s event, India’s Chikitha Taniparthi, twenty-one, shot a career-best 705 to take the top seed, recording 28 tens and 30 Xs. She finished one point ahead of Iran’s Bita Asheghzadeh Oskouei, the world number 161, who also posted a career-best 704.
Hangzhou 2022 triple gold medallist Jyothi Surekha Vennam scored 699 to place thirteenth. Eleven compound women broke the 700-point mark.
Compound men’s field
Twenty-one men surpassed 700 in the compound competition. China’s twenty-year-old Liao Jiahao and teenage compatriot Liu Jinyi both shot 712, with Liao taking the top seed on 37 Xs to Liu’s 30. Korea’s world number 10 Choi Yonghee, the highest-ranked archer in the field, followed one point behind on 711, while Bhutan’s Tandin Dorji shot a career-best 710.
India’s Sahil Rajesh Jadhav posted 709, the highest among Indian compound men. In compound mixed team qualification, Taniparthi’s 705 and Jadhav’s 709 gave India first place with 1414.
In the compound women’s team event, India, also including Prithika Pradeep’s 695, finished second behind China despite both nations totalling 2099; China had 82 Xs to India’s 74. China topped the compound men’s team seeding through Liao, Liu and Shi Jingyu.
Recurve records
In recurve men’s individual qualification, India’s Dhiraj Bommadevara, fresh from victory at the Hyundai Archery World Cup Final in Saltillo, Mexico, shot a new Asian Games record of 698 to finish five points ahead of two-time Olympic champion Kim Je Deok of Korea on 693. Korea’s depth, however, put it on top of the recurve men’s team ranking with a Games record 2064 from Je Deok (693), Lee Woo Seok (687) and Kim Woojin (684). Korea also secured the remaining recurve top seeds.
World number three Kang Chaeyoung led the recurve women’s individual with a Games record 685, and her score with Je Deok’s 693 gave Korea first in the mixed team ranking with another event record of 1378. Chaeyoung, Oh Yejin (678) and Lee Yunji (677) also gave Korea the top seeding in the women’s team event with a Games record 2040.
Hosts Japan saw world number 71 Nanami Asakuno finish second in the recurve women’s ranking with 678, while China’s world number two Zhu Jingyi was her country’s highest scorer with 674. Only the top two archers from each nation advance to the individual matchplay bracket, meaning several leading names, including Korea’s five-time Olympic champion and two-time Asian Games champion Kim Woojin, will not continue individually. Team elimination rounds were scheduled for Sunday in Nagoya.
