Key Points

India's archery team experienced a disastrous performance at the 2025 Archery World Cup Stage 3 in Antalya, with no athletes advancing to medal rounds. Veteran archer Deepika Kumari was quickly eliminated by Olympic champion An San, while other top performers like Parth Salunkhe and Jyothi Surekha Vennam also failed to progress. The recurve and compound teams were knocked out early, marking a significant setback for Indian archery. The tournament highlighted the challenging competition and the need for strategic improvements in the national archery program.

Key Points: India's Archery Stars Stumble at Antalya World Cup 2025

  • Deepika Kumari eliminated by Olympic champion An San
  • Recurve and compound teams fail to advance
  • Top Indian archers suffer early exits
  • Disappointing performance at Antalya tournament
2 min read

India stars return empty-handed after shambolic run at Archery World Cup 2025

Indian archers fail to secure medals at Archery World Cup Stage 3, with top athletes falling short in recurve and compound events

"A shambolic campaign that ended without a single medal - Olympics.com"

Antalya, June 7

India's 16-member squad endured a shambolic campaign at the Archery World Cup 2025 Stage 3 after falling short in securing medals across recurve and compound events in Antalya.

The Antalya leg, which commenced on Wednesday and will conclude on Sunday, will not feature an Indian archer competing in the singles event for medals, according to Olympics.com.

Four-time Olympian and India's seasoned archer Deepika Kumari, who had clinched bronze in Shanghai, was defeated 6-0 by Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion An San of the Republic of Korea in the second round.

An San later squared off against Simranjeet Kaur in a closely contested quarter-final on Saturday. Simranjeet, ranked 54th after qualification, came close to orchestrating an upset, leading 5-3 at one stage.

However, Simranjeet floundered in the fifth set, which allowed An San to equalise at 5-5. An San went on to dominate and delivered 11 in the shoot-off to win the contest with a 6-5 scoreline.

In the men's category, Parth Salunkhe, bronze medallist in Shanghai, suffered a shock first-round exit in the individual recurve event along with Olympian Tarundeep Rai.

Meanwhile, Dhiraj Bommadevara, India's top qualifier at 13th, allowed a 4-2 lead to slip from his palms in the second round encounter against Chinese Taipei's Tang Chih-Chun by a 6-4 scoreline. Atanu Das was also ousted in the second round, after succumbing to a defeat against Paris 2024 silver medallist Brady Ellison of the USA.

The recurve men's team of Dhiraj Bommadevara, Atanu Das and Parth Salunkhe crashed out following a 5-1 defeat against France in the third-place playoff.

In the compound archery events, Jyothi Surekha Vennam, the reigning Asian Games champion, returned empty-handed after losing to Estonia's Meeri-Marita Paas 152-150 in the second round.

Madhura Dhamangaonkar, who secured a gold medal in women's individual compound in Shanghai last month, suffered a bitter defeat against Mexico's Mariana Bernal 159-152 in the quarter-finals. Reigning women's world champion Aditi Swami was overwhelmed by Mexico's Andrea Becerra 152-147 at the same stage.

- ANI

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Reader Comments

R
Rajesh K.
Very disappointing performance after such high hopes! Our archers need better mental conditioning - losing leads in crucial moments has become a pattern. Maybe we should hire sports psychologists from Korea or USA who dominate this sport.
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Priya M.
Heartbreaking to see Simranjeet come so close yet lose 😔 But she showed great promise against the Olympic champion! We need to nurture young talents like her with better facilities. Why can't we have world-class archery academies like Korea?
A
Amit S.
Archery is our traditional sport yet we struggle internationally. Too much politics in sports federations maybe? Look how China developed their archery program systematically. We need long-term planning, not just hype before Olympics.
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Sunita R.
Still proud of our archers! 🇮🇳 The competition is fierce and they gave their best. Deepika Kumari is a legend regardless of this loss. Let's support them instead of criticizing - they need our encouragement to bounce back stronger 💪
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Vikram J.
The compound team's performance is especially worrying - we were world champions! Is there inadequate focus on this category now? SAI needs to analyze what went wrong instead of just moving to next tournament.
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Neha P.
Maybe we're over-relying on same players for too long? Time to scout fresh talent from rural areas where traditional archery is still practiced. Countries like Korea keep producing new champions while we stick to same names year after year.

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