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India’s Replica Archery Venue Helps Secure Asian Games Golds
India built a practice venue in Sonepat that looked and sounded like the Asian Games venue in Japan.
The archers trained there for 15 days.
The practice area had the same screens, music, targets, flags and podium.
Coaches also created difficult contests to help the athletes handle pressure.
At the Asian Games, India won all three compound team gold medals.
India beat South Korea in the semifinals and final rounds.
In the mixed-team final, India and South Korea tied after four ends.
India won the shoot-off 20-19.
The victory also gave India an Olympic quota place for Los Angeles 2028.
Indian compound archers trained for 15 days at a recreated Asian Games venue in Sonepat.
India won the men’s, women’s and mixed compound team gold medals, defeating South Korea three times.
Chikitha Taniparthi and Sahil Jadhav beat South Korea in a mixed-team shoot-off, 20-19.
The mixed-team victory secured India’s first Olympic quota place for Los Angeles 2028.
Coaches simulated pressure by recreating the venue and requiring archers to meet demanding scoring targets.
- Who
- India’s compound archers, including Chikitha Taniparthi and Sahil Jadhav, competed against teams including South Korea.
- What
- India swept the men’s, women’s and mixed compound team gold medals at the Asian Games.
- Where
- Training was held at the Sports Authority of India centre in Sonepat, while the competition took place at Okazaki Chuo Sogo Park in Japan.
- When
- The preparation took place for 15 days last month, with the team victories reported on Wednesday.
- Why
- The coaching staff recreated the competition environment to reduce unfamiliarity and prepare the archers for pressure situations, while the mixed-team win also secured an Olympic quota place.
Key facts
- Team gold medals
- India won all three compound team titles: men’s, women’s and mixed.
- Mixed-team final
- India tied South Korea 157-157 after four ends and won the shoot-off 20-19.
- Training period
- Indian archers trained for 15 days in the recreated venue at Sonepat.
- Simulated environment
- The replica included screens, a music system, targets, a podium, flags and the same colour scheme.
- Olympic qualification
- The mixed-team victory gave India its first Olympic quota place for Los Angeles 2028.
- Additional gold
- Neeru Dhanda and Kynan Chenai won mixed trap gold, giving India four gold medals on Wednesday.
- Future events
- India still had opportunities to win the men’s and women’s individual compound titles on Thursday.
Quotes
Jiwanjot Singh Teja
Dronacharya Award-winning Indian archery coach
“We have been proving ourselves from the past few years. We have been winning each and every medal possible at the highest and I think, yeah, maybe we are better than South Korea.”
indianexpress.com
“We wanted them to feel that whatever happens here, they have already experienced it.”
indianexpress.com
David Cousins
India’s high-performance archery coach
“The biggest thing is just they’ve been through training scenarios that are way more complicated and way more mentally and emotionally stressful than this. It’s just getting them to internalise that they trust everything you put them through, that they trust themselves, that they believe in their teammates and themselves, and then just get up there and execute with no doubts.”
indianexpress.com
Sources
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