Dhiraj Bommadevara announced himself as the archer to beat at the Asian Games with a record-breaking qualification round on Saturday, producing 698 points to top the men's recurve standings and underline India's growing depth in the sport. The 25-year-old Army archer, who arrived in Japan fresh from his World Cup Final triumph, showed remarkable composure over 72 arrows in Okazaki City, building his score with a superb second half that separated him from a high-quality field.
Dhiraj began with a solid 348 from his first 36 arrows, but it was his finish that turned a strong round into a historic one. He dropped just 10 points in the final 36 arrows, adding 350 to his tally and finishing on 698 out of a possible 720. That effort bettered the previous Asian Games qualification record of 690, set by Korea's Lee Woo Seok, and placed Dhiraj at the top of the 64-archer draw with a bye into the second round of the elimination stage.
The result also sent a clear warning to the rest of the field. Korea's Kim Je Deok, a member of the Paris Olympics gold-medal winning team, finished second with 693, while Chinese Taipei's Chin-Hun Tang was third with 692. Lee Woo Seok, the Paris Olympics bronze medallist, slipped to fourth with 687, but remains a major threat in the knockout rounds. Dhiraj holds a 2-1 head-to-head record against the Korean, who is ranked 19th in the world, and a potential semifinal meeting could become one of the marquee contests of the tournament if both archers progress that far.
For India, the performance carried added significance because the country has never won an Asian Games gold in the men's recurve individual event. Tarundeep Rai's silver in 2010 remains India's best finish in the discipline, and Dhiraj's form has now raised hopes that the long wait could finally end. His quarterfinal exit at the Hangzhou Asian Games had left unfinished business, but this qualification round suggested a more mature and more dangerous version of the archer has arrived.
There was also a notable shock in the Korean camp. Veteran star Kim Woojin, one of the most decorated archers in the sport and a target for a third Asian Games gold, failed to make the individual elimination round. He finished third among the Korean archers and missed the cut because only the top two from each country advance to the 64-player elimination draw. In a field where national quotas can be as decisive as overall ranking, that proved a costly setback for Korea.
India's other two men's recurve archers had mixed fortunes. Neeraj Chauhan finished 18th with 676 points, while Yashdeep Bhoge placed 25th with 665 and missed out on the knockout stage. Even so, India's collective effort was strong enough to secure second place in the men's team qualification behind Korea. As the second seed in the 32-team draw, India received a bye into the pre-quarterfinals, where they will face the Philippines. Three wins will be required to secure a medal, but the draw has given India a favourable starting position.
India had won a men's team silver in Hangzhou, and the current qualification results suggest another podium challenge is within reach. The team's balance, combined with Dhiraj's individual brilliance, gives India a genuine chance to convert consistency into a breakthrough gold.
The women's compound section offered another major boost for India's medal ambitions. Twenty-one-year-old Chikitha Taniparthi topped the individual qualification with 705 points, finishing ahead of Iran's Bita Asheghzadeh Oskouei, who scored 704. Korea's Park Jungyoon and Kang Yeonseo completed the top four, but Chikitha's performance stood out as one of the day's most impressive across all categories.
Her result came as India continued to assert itself in compound archery, a discipline in which the country has been dominant in recent years. At the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023, India swept all five gold medals in compound events and also collected one silver and one bronze. Chikitha's qualification score suggests that standard remains intact, and perhaps even rising.
Triple Asian Games gold medallist Jyothi Surekha Vennam, one of India's most experienced and reliable archers, finished 13th and safely advanced to the elimination rounds. Teenager Prithika Pradeep, who won a maiden World Cup bronze in Madrid earlier this year, narrowly missed out on an individual berth after scoring 695. She finished third among the Indian archers, but only the top two from each country could progress.
Even so, India secured the second seed in the women's compound team event behind China and will begin its campaign against Mongolia in the 16-team draw. The women's recurve and men's compound qualifications are scheduled for the second half, offering India further opportunities to strengthen what has already been an encouraging opening day.
For now, though, the headline belongs to Dhiraj. In a sport where precision and nerve define the margins, he delivered both in abundance, and in doing so he gave India the kind of start that can shape an entire Asian Games campaign.