India Ends 18-Year Wait with Dramatic Shoot-Off Victory Over Korea in Recurve Archery

In a thrilling shoot-off, the Indian men's recurve team stunned South Korea, the archery heavyweights, to win their first gold medal at the Asian Archery Championships in eighteen years. It was their best performance in recent memory. Korea's hold on the event since 2009 was broken when the threesome of Yashdeep Bhoge, Atanu Das, and Rahul overcame a 2-4 deficit to win a thrilling 5-4 match against a second-string Korean team that included Seo Mingi, Kim Yechan, and Jang Jiho.

After Das, a two-time Olympian, left early in the individual event but delivered an assured 10 that finished closer to the center than Korea, India won their first Asian Championship men's team gold since 2007. It was an exciting battle between the two best, with both teams shooting 29 in the shoot-off.

With the compound team already having won three gold and two silver earlier on Thursday, India's championship total increased to four gold and two silver as a result of this outcome. With Jyothi Surekha Vennam pulling off a stunning double by winning both the team and individual gold, the Indian compound archery team has had an incredible run.

Rahul Banerjee, coach of the Recurve men's team, who was on that 2007 champions team with Mangal Singh Champia and Jayanta Talukdar, found the outcome to be an emotional moment. Along with his longtime protégé Atanu and his wife Deepika Kumari, the 2010 Commonwealth Games gold medallist achieved a second victory eighteen long years after winning the coveted title as an athlete. Atanu, who won the national trials and was chosen to coach the men's team under Banerjee, appropriately fired the final shot.

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