The 24th Asian Archery Championships 2025, scheduled from 8–14 November 2025 in Dhaka, Bangladesh, represents far more than a continental competition for India. It’s a mirror of two contrasting realities within Indian archery the dominant, world-beating compound program and the rebuilding, high-potential recurve squad.
India enters Dhaka as one of Asia’s most formidable archery nations, carrying the momentum of their historic 2023 edition where Indian compound archers clinched three golds, three silvers, and two bronzes, topping the medal tally in the discipline for the first time in history. But two years later, while compound remains India’s stronghold, recurve the Olympic format stands at a crossroads of reinvention.
Dhaka 2025 serves multiple strategic purposes. It’s the first major continental meet after Paris 2024, making it a testing ground ahead of the 2026 World Championships and an early assessment phase for Los Angeles 2028. The championship’s format follows World Archery standards: qualification rounds at the National Stadium, followed by elimination and medal matches at the Bangladesh Army Stadium a shift that challenges athletes to adapt quickly to differing conditions.
Over 200 archers from 30 countries will compete across 10 events five each in recurve and compound. But for India, the split between the two disciplines is starkly defined: compound enters Dhaka as a powerhouse expected to dominate, while recurve arrives in a phase of controlled experimentation and structural change.
Compound: The Vanguard of Indian Archery
In 2023, India rewrote history in compound archery Parneet Kaur and Jyothi Surekha Vennam achieved a historic 1–2 finish in the women’s individual event, while the women’s team (Parneet, Jyothi, Aditi Swami) and the mixed team (Priyansh Kumar and Aditi Swami) clinched golds. The men, led by Abhishek Verma and Prathamesh Jawkar, added bronzes in both individual and team events. It was a sweep that positioned India above traditional Asian heavyweights like South Korea and Chinese Taipei.
Two years later, the core of that success returns, albeit with fresh faces joining veterans.
The centrepiece remains Jyothi Surekha Vennam, arguably India’s most consistent archer across any discipline. Ranked World No. 2 and coming off a bronze at the 2025 World Cup Final in Nanjing, Jyothi remains the gold-standard performer. Her personal best score of 715 and arrow average of 9.79 highlight her clinical precision.
However, India’s women’s team structure has evolved since 2023. With Parneet Kaur rotated out for emerging talents Chikitha Taniparthi and Deepshikha, the onus is now on them along with Prithika Pradeep to maintain the scoring parity that defined the 2023 squad. Their ability to close the qualification-score gap with Chinese Taipei’s second and third-ranked archers will determine if India can defend its women’s team gold from the last edition.
The mixed team, a key event now included in the LA28 Olympic program, will again rely on Jyothi as its foundation. Her partner could be Prathamesh Fuge or Prathamesh Jawkar, depending on qualification scores. Given India’s 2023 dominance and 2025 world-record form (Jyothi and Rishabh Yadav set a mixed team world record of 1431 earlier this year), another gold in Dhaka looks well within reach.
The men’s team Abhishek Verma, Prathamesh Fuge, Prathamesh Jawkar, and Sahil Jadav embodies India’s golden balance of experience and aggression.
- Verma, a 2023 bronze medallist, brings veteran leadership and composure.
- Fuge, fresh from a historic World Championship team gold in Gwangju 2025, has proven his clutch mentality in shootouts.
- Jawkar, an World University Games gold medallist and one of the sport’s brightest young stars, remains India’s most likely individual podium contender.
In 2023, India had settled for bronze behind Kazakhstan and South Korea in the team event. With both form and psychological momentum in their favor after their World Championship triumph, the 2025 lineup carries a legitimate shot at reclaiming Asia’s top spot.
Recurve: The Long Road of Rebuilding
While the compound program is flourishing, recurve archery India’s Olympic format is in transition. The 2023 Asian Championships highlighted the gulf: South Korea swept all five golds in recurve, with India managing only a women’s team bronze (Ankita Bhakat, Bhajan Kaur, Tisha Punia).
Men’s Recurve: Seeking Stability
India’s recurve men Atanu Das, Dhiraj Bommadevara, Yashdeep Bhoge, and Rahul face an uphill battle.
- Dhiraj, currently World No. 21, has shown flashes of brilliance but continues to struggle with consistency. His early exit at the 2025 World Championships after a 39th-place qualification finish underlined his need for composure in high-pressure eliminations.
- Atanu Das, the veteran of four Olympics, is invaluable as a stabilizer and mentor, especially in the team format.
- Bhoge and Rahul, though less experienced, will be critical in lifting India’s aggregate qualification score a determinant for favorable seeding and avoiding South Korea in early rounds.
For the men, a top-four team finish and a potential bronze playoff are realistic targets in Dhaka.
Women’s Recurve: Deepika’s Redemption Arc
If there’s one individual under the spotlight in Dhaka, it’s Deepika Kumari. The four-time Olympian remains India’s most decorated recurve archer but has yet to convert her World Cup brilliance into consistent continental success. Her 2025 Shanghai World Cup bronze which included a win over South Korea’s Kang Chae-young proved she still belongs among the elite. But an early exit at the World Championships followed, underscoring her volatility.
Deepika will lead a team featuring Ankita Bhakat, Anshika Kumari, and Sangeeta all of whom must raise their scoring averages to back their anchor. In 2023, India had finished behind South Korea and China, clinching bronze; in Dhaka, repeating that result amid rising competition from Japan and Chinese Taipei will be challenging but achievable.
Under Kisik Lee, the focus isn’t just medals it’s rebuilding India’s recurve architecture for the long term. Consistency in arrow grouping, pressure handling in shoot-offs, and qualification seeding will serve as key metrics of progress.
Competitive Landscape: Korea Dominates, India Targets the Gaps
South Korea remains the unchallenged monarch in recurve, having swept all golds in 2023 through stars like Kim Woo-jin, Choi Mi-sun, and An San. China, Chinese Taipei, and Japan continue to contest the silver-bronze tiers, leaving India to focus on beating these mid-tier rivals rather than chasing Korea for now. In compound, however, India enters as the dominant force. Kazakhstan, which took silver behind South Korea in the 2023 men’s team event, and Chinese Taipei, perennial contenders in women’s compound, are the main challengers.
Medal Outlook: India’s Projected Haul
| Category | Medal Expectation | Confidence Level |
| Compound Men (Team) | 🥇 Gold | High |
| Compound Women (Individual) | 🥇 Gold (Jyothi) | High |
| Compound Mixed Team | 🥇 Gold | High |
| Compound Women (Team) | 🥈/🥉 | Moderate |
| Recurve Women (Team) | 🥉 | Moderate |
| Recurve Men (Individual/Team) | QF Finish | Low |
A realistic projection would see India finishing second overall behind South Korea, driven primarily by dominance in compound events.
Beyond Dhaka: Building Two Futures
For Indian archery, Dhaka isn’t just another championship it’s a dual mission. For compound, it’s about maintaining supremacy and fine-tuning combinations ahead of Olympic debut in Los Angeles. For recurve, it’s about relearning how to win one arrow, one process at a time.
If 2023 marked India’s emergence as a world leader in compound, 2025 must mark the start of its recurve renaissance. And as Dhaka’s finals unfold under the November sun, Indian archery’s story will continue to evolve a tale of power, precision, and pursuit of perfection across two very different trajectories.
