Indian Archers Shine at Archery World Cup in Shanghai

The Indian men's recurve archery team stunned Olympic champions Korea to win gold at the Archery World Cup in Shanghai, boosting their 2024 Paris Olympic qualification hopes. Deepika Kumari won silver in the women's event on her comeback.

India's archery teams had a stellar performance at the Archery World Cup Stage 1 event in Shanghai, China on Sunday. In a stunning upset, the Indian men's recurve team of Tarundeep Rai, Dhiraj Bommadevara and Pravin Jadhav defeated the powerhouse Korean team 5-1 in the final to win the gold medal.

This was India's first men's team recurve gold at a World Cup event since 2010. Defeating the reigning Olympic champion Koreans, who have dominated recurve archery for years, is an incredible feat for the Indian trio. Their win strengthens India's chances of qualifying the men's recurve team for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

"This result gives us a big boost in the Olympic year," said Dhiraj Bommadevara, the only Indian archer to have already secured an Olympic quota place for Paris so far. "This medal feels good, especially with the amount of work we've been doing, keeping just this Olympics in mind."

On the women's side, veteran Indian archer Deepika Kumari marked her return to the World Cup circuit after two years with a silver medal in the individual recurve event. Deepika defeated Korean archers in the quarters and semis before losing to Lim Si-hyeon of Korea 6-0 in the final.

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With valuable world ranking points earned from this World Cup, the Indian men's recurve team is now ranked 3rd and in a strong position to qualify for the 2024 Olympics through the world rankings or the final qualifying tournament later this year.

The brilliant showing by India's archers in Shanghai has raised hopes for more Olympic archery success after the country's best ever medal haul of one gold and two bronzes at the Tokyo 2020 Games.