Two numbers stand out from the compound archery competition in the Hangzhou Asian Games on Tuesday morning. Three, of the six who've qualified for medals are Indian. That's half the medal winners - maybe more if a fourth qualifies too. And one of them shot 30 - count them - consecutive perfect 10s in an incredible display of high-level consistency.
These three confirmed medals are in individual events; there could be several more medals lined up in the men's, women's and mixed team events. The signs look good: India have the reigning male and female world champions as well as the women's team in compound archery.
India has dominated compound archery at Hangzhou like no other sport, not even shooting. And ironically, on the flip side, it is in a sport that few Indian sports fans are aware of or would have watched, till this morning. Ask a casual sport watcher about India's archery legacy and they will speak of Limba Ram and Deepika Kumari, not Aditi Swami or Ojas Deotale.
Perhaps that will change after an incredible half hour on Tuesday, when India's compound archers put on their best show, on the biggest stage and, equally important, on national television.
First, there was a thrilling all-Indian semifinal between Jyothi Surekha Vennam, the 27-year-old veteran, and Aditi Swami, world champion at 17 who had beaten Jyothi at this very stage at the World Championships in August.
This time, Jyothi won in the last end in a match that showed there is no room for even the slightest error at this level. The two were level after eight perfect 10s of the total 15 shots; on the ninth, Jyoti shot 9 and Aditi, smiling and energetic, shot 10 to move ahead. She held the lead for three more shots but then shot 7 with her third-last arrow; Jyothi hit straight 10s to take the lead, slam the window shut and move into the final.
Then came the two stunning men's semifinals where Abhishek Verma, aged 34, and world champion Ojas Deotale (21) comfortably beat two South Koreans to set up an all-Indian final.
South Korea's compound record may not be as strong as their recurve record - it's like China in table-tennis - but the ease with which the Indians won tells of a team's depth. It was Ojas who shot 15 straight 10s, adding to the perfect 15 he'd shot in the quarterfinals, to underline his status as world champion.
None of this would have surprised those who've been watching these archers of late:
• Jyothi has eight medals at the World Championship and two team medals at the Asian Games in 2018.
• Aditi won the U-18 and senior world titles in the span of a month this year, becoming India's first archery senior world champion.
• Abhishek has reached an Asian Games final in all three editions that featured compound archery.
• Ojas shot a perfect 150 even in the World Championship final to become the first Indian man to win an individual world title.
Despite this clutch of top-level honours, though, their sport has been given step-child treatment. The main reason for this is that compound archery, unlike the more familiar recurve, is not an Olympic sport. It was introduced at the Asian Games in 2014, and only team events were conducted in 2018. The unstated reason for this is that compound archery uses a more automated bow than the classical recurve bow, and so is looked down upon.
Jyothi spoke about this discrimination after her World Championship exploits. "Just because compound archery is not included in the Olympics, we don't receive any support. Olympic athletes receive a lot of support be it from private organization or any other, but we don't," she told ESPN.
Archery is a very expensive sport, she points out. A top-level set-up bow can cost between ₹3.5-4.5 lakh. A set of one dozen arrows costs around ₹40,000 and getting them ready for shooting would take around ₹65,000-70,000. All equipment has to be imported from the US so it also depends on the dollar rate and exchange rate.
The lack of private support is a long-standing issue in Indian sport but this kind of support is usually reserved for the more visible and viable sports. There's a chance that compound archery might be added to the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. Till then, the Asiad and Worlds are the biggest platforms for the sport and Indians have shined at both.
That these archers are consistent is evident from their results. But the Hangzhou outings prove they have confidence to back their consistency. To get this near-perfect finish under the harsh spotlight of a multi-sports event is something the likes of Aditi and Ojas are still new to. Here, there was pressure like they haven't experience before, perhaps even at the World Championships, because they knew the whole country was watching.
But they've long wanted this, a chance to prove that they are up there with the best. And in the current Indians sportscape, only a gold medal at a big event can do it. The archers have delivered - there will be at least one gold in Hangzhou. Now, Indian sport has to return the favour.