‘Beating multi-gold medallist boosted archery team’s morale’: AAI General Secy on Neeraj’s win over Kim Je-deok
Okazaki City, Sep 29 (IANS) Archery Association of India (AAI) secretary general Virendra Sachdeva called recurve archer Neeraj Chauhan’s stunning win over multiple-time Olympic gold medallist Kim Je-deok a “morale-boosting” one and heaped praise on the archers for putting up a good show at the ongoing Asian Games 2026.
Sachdeva hailed Neeraj’s 6-4 win over Je-deok, who won team and mixed team events in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and defended the team title in the Paris 2024 Games.
“Neeraj delivered a fantastic performance. Our entire team is doing well, but beating Korea’s multiple Olympic gold medallist to reach the quarterfinals has boosted the morale of the whole team,” Sachdeva told IANS in an exclusive interaction.
“Undoubtedly, the Indian shooters are having a great campaign; both the men’s, women’s, and mixed teams in compound and recurve have reached the semifinals. In the individual events of compound and recurve, our archers have made it to the quarterfinals,” he said.
India have a few new faces in the archery discipline this time around, with the likes of Deepika Kumari, Atanu Das, Abhishek Verma and Ojas Pravin Deotale missing out on making it to the squad. The archery teams have been performing well in their absence too. With the Asiad offering Olympic quotas, there is an added incentive for the archers to stamp their authority.
“Overall, this is a new team; only one or two archers have previous Asian Games experience. Our archers have the passion and zeal to give their best. We all want to secure the 2028 Olympic quota from here. Korea has held a monopoly in the Asian Games and the Olympics. I am glad to see that the changes brought about by the Indian government and SAI over the last 4–5 years are showing their effect,” Sachdeva added.
The Indian archers not only had to get the better of their opponents but also contend with rainy conditions in Okazaki. Sachdeva heaped praise on the archers for delivering their best in odd conditions.
“When our recurve team had their match, it was raining heavily, and I congratulate the archers for standing their ground despite the rain. Initially, it felt like things were going a bit wrong, but bouncing back after that is a huge deal. It rained continuously, but archery is a sport where focus and concentration are crucial. Archers have to overcome whatever is happening around them and move forward, and our archers proved they could do that,” he said.
Sachdeva, who also serves as an Executive Board (EB) member in World Archery Asia, brushed aside any accommodation or transportation issues for the archery squad upon their arrival for the continental showpiece.
“We didn’t face any issues regarding transportation or accommodation. Archery had one of the best setups. Our archers wanted Indian food, and that was made available as well. I feel all the facilities were good. We have made a great start, and I want our archers to take it to a successful finish,” he concluded.
The Indian archers have been doing well at the Aichi-Nagoya Games. Dhiraj Bommadevara also moved into the quarterfinals in the recurve individual event after beating Chinese Taipei’s Cheng Hsiang-Hui, while the men’s, women’s and mixed compound teams have made it to the semifinals too.
–IANS
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