How Ankita Bhakat became one of India’s most dependable recurve archers

ATHLETE SPOTLIGHT is presented by WIAWIS.

It may have taken some time for Ankita Bhakat to rise to prominence, but when she did, she made it count. Calm and composed by nature, Bhakat steadily built her form, analysing every step before announcing herself on the big stage.

Hard work and perseverance have defined her career, helping her grow into one of India’s most dependable recurve archers.

The world number 22 will, however, always rue missing out on an Olympic medal. Bhakat and Dhiraj Bommadevara finished a heartbreaking fourth in the mixed team event at Paris 2024 after losing to the USA in the bronze-medal match.

But the way the recurve women’s team won gold in Shanghai underlined its growing stature. The Indian trio stunned 10-time Olympic champions Korea before defeating China in a dramatic shoot-off to clinch the title.

“The gold in Shanghai was special,” said Bhakat, who has been part of India’s three recurve women’s team gold medals at World Cup stages. “It had been a long time since the team won a gold medal.”

“It will give us a lot of confidence ahead of the Asian Games later this year. Last time in Guatemala there were not many teams, but here almost all the top teams were competing.”

“All three archers performed very well individually. There was a lot of coordination and understanding between us. We were covering for each other and there was no pressure during the matches.”

The last time India’s recurve women won World Cup stage gold before Shanghai was in Guatemala and Paris in 2021, with Bhakat part of both teams.

So, what has been working for her recently?

“The Archery Premier League was the turning point,” said Bhakat, who was part of the title-winning Rajputana Royals at the inaugural edition. It taught us a lot about adaptation and timing.”

“We had two minutes for four people to shoot in the team event, which meant each archer had only 15 seconds compared to the usual 20.”

“There was hardly any time to think while standing on the shooting line and that was the click for me. I just continued with that rhythm and it worked in the following tournaments.”

Born and raised in Kolkata in eastern India, Bhakat joined the Tata Archery Academy in Jamshedpur in 2014 after training for six years at the Kolkata Archery Club.

She only began shooting recurve after joining the academy. Before that, she competed in the Indian round discipline, a traditional target archery format using a wooden recurve bow rather than modern Olympic equipment.

At the Tata Archery Academy, she refined her skills under renowned national coaches Dharmendra Tiwary and Purnima Mahato. Bhakat has trained under Mahato for several years and competed at major events including the Asian Games, world championships and Olympic Games under her guidance.

Since March 2026, however, she has also been working with world championships and Asian Games medallist Jayanta Talukdar, another former Tata Academy trainee who regularly helps mentor young archers.

“I have always shared a good bond with Jayanta bhaiya [brother],” said the left-handed recurve archer. “I feel he has great knowledge of the sport and I trust him a lot.”

“At this stage, I cannot change my shooting too much. I just need to follow the same process and technique. Currently, I am trying to maintain my form and work on my timing.”

Bhakat’s journey in archery began in 2008 when she visited a local archery ground with her father to watch a state competition.

“As a child, I was always interested in sports,” she said. “I started practising yogasana at the age of three and was also interested in badminton, but could not continue because of financial challenges.”

For a period, she balanced archery, handball and yogasana.

“I could not focus on just one sport. I was already a national champion in yogasana, but there was not much future in the sport at the time. So I stopped and focused fully on archery.”

The 27-year-old believes years of practising yogasana helped her develop stronger shoulders and greater stability.

Dedication and perseverance followed soon after.

“I was always at the ground an hour before training started,” she said. “But there were challenges because there was not much equipment available for left-handed players. It took one year for my bow to arrive. My coach [Mithoo da] used to make my fletching before competitions.”

Bhakat describes it as a difficult journey.

“I desperately wanted to shoot recurve, but my family could not afford it. My father had very little income, so I had to continue in Indian round for six years. My aunt also supported me by buying my training equipment.”

She recalls spectators often asking why she was not shooting recurve.

“People used to tell me, ‘You shoot so well, why don’t you play recurve?’ I also used to wonder if I would ever shoot a recurve bow.”

Her first major international event was supposed to be the 2015 World Archery Youth Championships in Yankton, USA, but the Indian team failed to secure visas in time.

“All of us were so excited to take our first flight. But we were not meant to fly to the US then.”

Instead, the team travelled to the Seoul International Youth Archery Festa in Korea, where Bhakat returned with an individual bronze medal, mixed team silver and unforgettable memories.

“I struggled a lot with food in Korea because I did not like it. But now if someone asks me my favourite food, it always has to be Korean food.”

Over time, Korea also became a source of inspiration.

“I follow Kim Woojin and I love his shooting style,” said Bhakat.

“Earlier, motivation used to come from within the Tata Academy itself. We all competed against each other, and everyone worked so hard. I always felt that I did not work less than anyone else – I wanted to work equally hard or even harder.”

That work ethic laid the foundation for future success, including mixed team gold at the 2016 Asian Cup and another mixed team title at the 2017 World Archery Youth Championships.

Now, Bhakat hopes to lead India’s recurve women’s team to another major milestone at the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games.

India recently announced a youthful squad for Nagoya, with several established names, including Kumari, Atanu Das, Abhishek Verma and Ojas Pravin Deotale, missing out on selection.

“This time, I hope we can change the colour to gold,” said Bhakat, who alongside Mohod and Kirti forms India’s recurve women’s team. “The responsibility will also be on me to lead the team.”

“We have already started training together in camp. It will help us build stronger bonding and understanding.”

More than a decade into the sport, the experienced recurver says archery now means everything to her.

“I get restless even on holidays. I feel guilty if I do not shoot arrows, even though I shoot around 300 arrows a day.”

She also believes success ultimately comes down to mental strength.

“But in India, the hype around major championships makes things tougher for athletes. The name of the championship itself gets too much into the players’ minds.”

“LA28 definitely crosses my mind, but the first step is the Asian Games.”

It will be exciting to see how Bhakat leads India’s youthful recurve women’s team on the continental stage and whether they can spring more surprises in Nagoya.