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Asian Games: Compound archers pull off gold medal sweep, now over to the system to back them

Gold medallists India's Jyothi Surekha Vennam and Ojas Pravin Deotale pose during the medals ceremony for the archery compound mixed team event at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China. JUNG YEON-JE/AFP via Getty Images

Perfection is easily measured in archery. It's right there - that dot right in the middle of that yellow ring denoting a bullseye. India have taken that perfection to another level in compound archery, winning all five gold medals on offer at the Hangzhou Asian Games - an unprecedented clean sweep.

Before Hangzhou, South Korea had won four of seven golds awarded in the discipline at the Asian Games. India are now the most successful nation in the sport at the Asiad with six golds (they won one in 2014). India have not dominated a sport in this manner since hockey at the Olympics all those years ago.

This year's gold rush is down to six archers - Jyothi Surekha Vennam, Ojas Pravin Deotale, Abhishek Verma, Aditi Swami, Parneet Kaur and Prathamesh Samadhan Jawkar -four of whom are already world champions.

The stage at Hangzhou, in a sense, came with more pressure than even the World Championships, because of the intense public gaze back in India. But there was no capitulation, no faltering on a big stage; India's compound archers came, hit their bullseyes, conquered all in front of them.

The domination was almost scary to see, more so in the men's individual final between Ojas and Abhishek. Coming into the final, Ojas, 21, had already shot 15 perfect 10s each in the quarterfinal and semifinal. And he began the final with a series of perfect 10s, matched by 34-year-old teammate Abhishek.

Right until shot eight, when Abhishek hit a wayward eight. He looked up at the skies, knowing with certainty that his shot at gold had gone - his teammate, whom he knew all too well, would never miss. Ojas continued his perfect performance, adding another 10 to the thirty from before. An errant nine in his eleventh shot proved inconsequential - and four 10s later Ojas had his gold.

68 of the 75 shots he had taken during the entire individual event had been 10s. Gold? They need to upgrade his medal.

Abhishek, wearing a relaxed smile all along, knew the inevitability of the result. He even had the time to share a joke with coach Sergio Pagni as Ojas continued his march towards gold.

For the watching Indian fans (which was the recurve team), this was something very new - an Indian in a final is usually a tense affair, all hopes and dreams - this had the atmosphere of a relaxed Saturday morning stroll.

Even Jyothi's final an hour earlier had the air of inevitability about it. She started with an 8 (later ruled a nine upon review) and drew gasps from the watching audience. Asiad gold-medallist So Chaewon and the might of South Korea at the other end - would Jyothi crumble?

Not a chance. And as if to ram home the point, she sent her next fourteen arrows right into the centre circle. Her first individual Asian Games gold had come, vindication after missing out early in the 2014 edition and the lack of support for the sport in general.

A federation that always prioritised the recurve contingent - once pulling out the entire compound team from an event, after one coach returned a false positive Covid-19 test, so as to not jeopardize the recurve team - now was witnessing their recurve team cheer on their unfancied siblings.

Jyothi was the picture of contentment atop the podium as the anthem rang out, while Ojas wiped away tears. Yet, their fight is not over. They came with the aim to bring their sport into the national consciousness within India, to become household names. They've achieved that.

The niggling fact remains that compound archery is not an Olympic sport. Which translates into a lack of funding for these six gold medallists. This clean sweep of the Asian Games ought to help, but until the Olympic committee includes this event, the likes of Jyothi and Ojas will remain in the background, especially when the Paris Olympics comes round next year.

The medals, the euphoria from these games need to be savoured, because India will only next see their faces at the 2026 Asian Games in Nagoya. Three years is a long time in sports - will they be the same champions they are today?

Reports indicate that the LA Games in 2028 might include the compound archery event. It is five years away and will require a fair bit of patience - but for these six golden stars, no target is too far. They'll always find that centre dot.