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The Indian men's recurve squad produced its astir stirring show successful caller representation to stun heavyweights South Korea successful a nerve-wracking shoot-off to clinch its archetypal Asian Archery Championships golden successful 18 years, successful Dhaka connected Friday (November 14, 2025).
The trio of Yashdeep Bhoge, Atanu Das and Rahul rallied from 2-4 down to publication a melodramatic 5-4 triumph implicit a Korean second-string broadside comprising Seo Mingi, Kim Yechan and Jang Jiho, breaking Korea's stranglehold connected the lawsuit since 2009.
Both teams changeable 29 successful the shoot-off, but India were declared winners aft Das — the two-time Olympian who had exited aboriginal successful the idiosyncratic lawsuit — delivered an assured 10 that finished person to the centre than Korea's, sealing India's archetypal Asian Championship men's squad golden since 2007.
The effect swelled India's tally astatine the championships to 4 golden and 2 silver, with the compound squad having already returned a haul of 3 golden and 2 metallic connected Thursday (November 13, 2025).
India's compound archers person had a stellar tally with Jyothi Surekha Vennam completing a memorable treble by winning some the squad and idiosyncratic gold.
It was a profoundly affectional infinitesimal for recurve men's squad manager Rahul Banerjee, a subordinate of that champion 2007 squad alongside Mangal Singh Champia and Jayanta Talukdar.
Eighteen years aft winning the rubric arsenic an athlete, the 2010 Commonwealth Games gold-medallist anchored a 2nd triumph, this clip with his long-time protege Atanu and his woman Deepika Kumari successful the squad.
Atanu, who topped nationalist trials to gain enactment and marque Banerjee the men's squad coach, fittingly deed the decisive arrow.
Didn't choke, yet fulfilled: Rahul
"It's truly fulfilling arsenic a manager arsenic we defeated Korea and didn't choke. Atanu and I were discussing past nighttime that we person not won a golden for a agelong clip and it's yet fulfilled. The adjacent people is Asian Games definitely," Banerjee told PTI from Dhaka.
Korea whitethorn person arrived without their legendary Olympic champion Kim Woojin, but the broadside inactive featured prime talent.
Seo Mingi topped nationalist trials, Kim Yechan is simply a 20-year-old Chengdu University Games gold-medallist, and Jang Jiho rounded retired a promising trio.
Banerjee was speedy to underline that pedigree.
"They are not their top-three archers but aft the World Championships they had the proceedings for Asians and these were picked. As acold arsenic my cognition is concerned, they are their apical four, five, six archers.
"In presumption of quality, the Koreans are Koreans — the quality among their apical 5 is minimal," helium pointed out.
The last had its stock of ups and downs. Korea began with 56 successful the archetypal acceptable aft an 8, with India matching them arrow for arrow.
The 2nd acceptable excessively ended 56-all contempt India drifting into the reddish 7-point ringing once.
At 2-2, Korea broke distant with a crisp 57, portion India faltered severely with 4 8s and conscionable 1 10 to slump to 2-4.
But India mounted a superb effect successful the 4th set, opening with back-to-back 10s and closing retired a composed 57-53 triumph to level the lucifer 4-4 and unit the shoot-off that yielded their astir important men's recurve triumph successful astir 2 decades.
The women's team, mixed squad and Jyothi successful the idiosyncratic class accounted for the yellowish metal, portion the men's squad settled for metallic and 17-year-old Prithika Pradeep claimed a silver.
India are besides successful enactment for much medals erstwhile idiosyncratic recurve resumes successful the 2nd session, with Deepika Kumari, Ankita Bhakat and rookie Sangeeta reaching the women's semifinals. Dhiraj Bommadevara and Rahul are done to the past 4 successful the men's draw.
