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India defends compound team titles, secures first LA28 Olympic quotas

30 September 2026

Nagoya (Japan)

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Chikitha Taniparthi and Sahil Rajesh Jadhav made history as the first compound mixed team to secure LA28 Olympic quota places as India swept all three compound team titles at the 20th Asian Games on Wednesday.

Qualifying as the top seed, the Indian pair secured the LA28 spot after holding their nerve to beat Korea’s Park Jungyoon and Choi Yonghee 20-19 in a shoot-off for gold.

Nothing separated the teams after a high-quality final finished 157-157.

Taniparthi and Jadhav both delivered 10s in the shoot-off. Jungyoon matched them with a 10, but Yonghee followed with a nine, handing India the title at the Okazaki Chuo Sogo Park Multipurpose Square in Aichi Prefecture.

The Indian pair had earlier edged Thailand 156-155 in the semifinals.

“We have been practicing communication a lot,” Jadhav said. “All of the team have been working on this very hard, especially during team practice sessions.

“There have been many low points but when something like this happens, becoming a champion, it feels as though it was meant to happen.”

The victory earned India the two quota places available here for the compound mixed team event, which will make its Olympic debut at LA28.

Because quotas are earned by a country, rather than individual athletes, National Olympic Committees have final authority to select which athletes will represent their delegation at LA28.

For Taniparthi, it was already a second gold medal of the day.

She had earlier joined Jyothi Surekha Vennam and Prithika Pradeep to successfully defend India’s compound women’s team title with a 238-234 victory over China.

The score also equalled the world record for a 24-arrow compound women’s team match.

Vennam and Pradeep were flawless, hitting 10s with all eight of their arrows as India finished just two points short of a perfect 240. The team’s 24 arrows included seven Xs.

India had needed a much tighter 234-233 win over Korea’s Jungyoon, Park Yerin and Kang Yeonseo in the semifinals.

Fourteen-year-old Yeonseo, who had already set a new world record with a perfect 150 in the individual eliminations, added another milestone by becoming the youngest member of the Korean team to win a medal at these Games as Korea took bronze.

“We all did our best, and it was the first Asian Games for all of us,” Yeonseo said. “I think we all did well together, so this bronze medal feels even more valuable than I expected.”

The victory gave Vennam her fourth Asian Games gold medal after the Hangzhou 2022 triple champion had exited early from the individual competition.

Jadhav also finished the day with two golds after joining Ganesh Mani Ratnam Thirumuru and Kushal Dalal to edge China 238-237 in the compound men’s team final.

India trailed 58-60 after the opening end but responded with a perfect 180 over the next three.

China still held a 179-178 advantage heading into the final end, but an opening eight proved costly as India overturned the deficit to take the title by a single point.

The Indian trio had earlier beaten Yonghee-led Korea 236-229 in the semifinals.

The three victories saw India successfully defend three of the five compound titles it won at Hangzhou 2022, continuing its strong run under recently appointed head coach Dave Cousins.

Competition at the Asian Games continues with the compound individual medal matches on Thursday.