Atanu Das Wins Bronze Medal In Men’s Recurve At Asian Archery Championships 2019

Indian archers continued their splendid run at the ongoing Asian Archery Championships in Bangkok on Tuesday as Atanu Das managed to bag a bronze medal in the men’s recurve individual event.

Das, who is participating as a neutral athlete under the flag of World Archery, overwhelmed Korean Hayek Oh 6-5 in the shoot-off in the third-place match.

The archery contingent from India has also ensured a medal as the pair of Abhishek Verma and Jyothi Surekha Vennam booked a gold medal encounter against Chinese Taipei after they overcame Korea 159-154 in a one-sided affair.

Earlier on Monday, Das had also won a bronze medal in the recurve mixed team event along with Deepika Kumari. The Indian pair of Deepika and Das, shot 38-37, 37-39, 38-35 and 40-38 to take the bronze and clinch India’s first medal at the championship, which kicked off on November 22. This medal was also Deepika’s first medal of the year. The two time Commonwealth Games gold medalist last won gold in 2018 Salt Lake City Archery World Cup.

Even though, the Indian archers are enjoying a stellar performance at the event it is to be noted that the archers are not participating under the Indian flag in the championship. The Indian archers are participating as neutral athletes in the event under the banner of World Archery as the Archery Association of India is suspended by the world governing body.

The Asian Archery Championship is also one of the last chances for Indian archers to take aim at Tokyo 2020. The event is the penultimate competition for Asia’s archers to make the cut for the Olympics next year.

On Wednesday, Indian women including former top-ranked archer Deepika Kumari and veteran Bombayla Devi Laishram will be looking to book their Olympic quota berths as team eliminations are also scheduled on the same day.