The Indian men's recurve team produced its most stirring performance in recent memory to stun heavyweights South Korea in a nerve-wracking shoot-off to clinch its first Asian Archery Championships gold in 18 years, in Dhaka, on Friday.
The women's compound team thus has been unbeatable this season, having won the World Cup Stage 1 and Stage 2 gold medals in Shanghai and Yecheon in April and May respectively.
The Archery Association of India (AAI) also have roped in two-time Italian World Cup winner Sergio Pagni, who is accompanying the compound team to the Turkey World Cup.
India finish with four medals in World Cup Stage 3.
Following is India's schedule at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, on Saturday, October 7.
India's premier recurve archer Deepika Kumari won her fifth silver medal at the World Cup Final after losing the summit clash 0-6 to China's Li Jiaman, Tlaxcala, Mexico.
Transition struggle for Indian archers in forgettable 2022
The World Cup Stage 3 was the final chance for the non-qualified nations to make the cut based on their rankings.
Indian archers produced an impressive performance, grabbing three gold, four silver and two bronze medals at the Asian Championships in Dhaka on Thursday.
The Indian women's compound archery team missed the season-opening World Cup Stage 1 event in the USA due to visa delays, resulting in a missed medal opportunity.
The Shanghai Archery World Cup last month marked the emergence of Parth Salunkhe, and the 21-year-old former youth world champion will look to shine again
Priyansh, Jyothi make compound semis
India assured themselves of at least another silver medal in the 17th Asian Games after the trio of Abhishek Verma, Rajat Chauhan and Sandeep Kumar entered the final of the compound men's team archery event in Incheon on Thursday.
Ace Indian archer Deepika Kumari crashed out of the World Championships as India's campaign in both recurve and compound individual events ended on Thursday on a disappointing note in Belek.
Teenage Indian archer Prathamesh Jawkar produced the biggest upset of his rising career, stunning World No 1 Mike Schloesser of the Netherlands to grab a maiden World Cup gold medal in the men's individual compound section in Shanghai on Saturday.
Continuing her spirited progress post motherhood, former world number one Deepika Kumari eliminated Korean Jeon Hunyoung to storm into the semifinal, while compound archers continued to shine to assure India a fourth medal in the World Cup Stage 1 in Shanghai on Friday.
Jyothi Surekha Vennam and Priyansh advanced to the compound mixed team final, confirming India's second medal, while Deepika Kumari brightened the country's gloomy recurve campaign, reaching to her second successive Archery World Cup semifinals after her comeback in the Stage 2 of the event, in Yecheon on Friday.
India's compound men's archery team advanced to the final of the season's first World Cup, in Shanghai, on Friday.
India's final tally in Hangzhou stood at 28 gold, 38 silver and 41 bronze, a quantum leap from the 70 medals the contingent bagged at Jakarta in 2018.
Indian archery endured a forgettable outing at Stage 3 of the World Cup in Antalya, Turkey on Saturday, returning empty-handed in a performance that raised serious questions over team selection, preparation and mental fortitude, especially with the Asian Games just a year away.
Having lost the men's and women's team events in the morning session, Verma and Dahal were India's only hope to sign off with a medal and the duo did not disappoint.
Indian women's compound team rallied to down their Chinese Taipei rivals by one-point in a tense final to secure a second gold medal in archery
India's schedule at the Asian Games: Day 4
They will be against Chinese Taipei in the final on Sunday.
Suspension, internal mudslinging and factionalism overshadowed some stellar performances by Indian archers as the sport went from bad to worse with just a few months left for Tokyo Olympics in an eventful 2019. The biggest blow to Indian archery came in August when World Archery suspended the national federation after two warring groups conducted parallel elections in Delhi and Chandigarh in a clear defiance of the international body's guidelines.
India finally came good, assuring themselves at least a silver medal at the Archery World Cup Stage 3 being held in Medellin, Colombia.
The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) was left red-faced during Sunday's felicitation ceremony to award cash prize to Asian Games medallists as the parent body got multiple names wrong on the cheques and even missed out on one.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday
Former World No 1 Deepika Kumari, who was making a comeback after her maternity break, on Monday failed to make the Indian team for the Asian Games, World Cup and World Championships slated later this year.
That Deepika uses a heavy bow of 44-pound, an excess of four pounds from what the women archers normally use, is also adding to her misery.
The women's team of Ankita Bhakat, Simranjeet Kaur and Bhajan Kaur defeated Vietnam to win a bronze at the Asian Games in Hangzhou on Friday.
The 44-year-old took charge of the Indian team in December and his contract is up for renewal after the Asian Games.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Saturday
India's schedule at the Asian Games in Hangzhou on Monday, October 2.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Saturday
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday
Compound archery chief coach Sergio Pagni opened up on India's recipes for securing historic three gold medals in the recent World Championships.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Friday
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Saturday
