Indian archery has won 9 medals, including 5 golds, at each of the last two Asian Games. That is a jump from just 2 silvers at Jakarta 2018 to 18 medals across Hangzhou 2022 and Aichi-Nagoya 2026.
At Aichi-Nagoya, archery was India’s top gold-winning sport, ahead of shooting and boxing (3 each). In Hangzhou it ranked third for golds, behind shooting (7) and athletics (6). Across both Games, though, no Indian sport outside the team games (cricket, hockey, kabaddi) has turned medals into gold as reliably: 10 golds from 18 medals, a 56% gold rate.
Three Games compared
India went from 2 archery silvers in Jakarta to 9 medals in Hangzhou, then matched that haul exactly in Aichi-Nagoya. All 10 golds came in those last two Games.
Recurve catches up with compound
The biggest shift is in recurve, the Olympic bow. It went from no medals in 2018 to 2 in 2022 and 5 in 2026, overtaking compound for the first time.
| Games | Compound (G-S-B) | Compound total | Recurve (G-S-B) | Recurve total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 Jakarta-Palembang | 0-2-0 | 2 | 0-0-0 | 0 |
| 2022 Hangzhou | 5-1-1 | 7 | 0-1-1 | 2 |
| 2026 Aichi-Nagoya | 3-0-1 | 4 | 2-2-1 | 5 |
- Compound team dominance. India won all three compound team golds (women’s, men’s, mixed) in both 2022 and 2026: six team finals, six golds.
- Recurve’s first golds. India’s first two recurve golds of this era came in 2026: the women’s team, and Kumkum Mohod’s individual title, the first individual recurve gold ever won by an Indian archer.
- Individual events remain the gap. India has won 7 individual archery medals over these three Games, against 13 team and mixed medals.
The archers behind the medals
Jyothi Surekha Vennam is the only Indian archer to medal at all three Games, with 4 golds and a silver.
| Archer | Bow | 2018 | 2022 | 2026 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jyothi Surekha Vennam | Compound | 1 S | 3 G | 1 G | 4 G, 1 S |
| Ojas Deotale | Compound | – | 3 G | – | 3 G |
| Kumkum Mohod | Recurve | – | – | 2 G, 1 S | 2 G, 1 S |
| Abhishek Verma | Compound | 1 S | 1 G, 1 S | – | 1 G, 2 S |
| Chikitha Taniparthi | Compound | – | – | 2 G | 2 G |
| Sahil Rajesh Jadhav | Compound | – | – | 2 G | 2 G |
| Aditi Swami | Compound | – | 1 G, 1 B | – | 1 G, 1 B |
| Ankita Bhakat | Recurve | – | 1 B | 1 G | 1 G, 1 B |
| Dhiraj Bommadevara | Recurve | – | 1 S | 2 S | 3 S |
| Ganesh Mani Ratnam Thirumuru | Compound | – | – | 1 G, 1 B | 1 G, 1 B |
| Neeraj Chauhan | Recurve | – | – | 1 S, 1 B | 1 S, 1 B |
- A new generation in 2026. 9 of the 12 Indian archers who medalled at Aichi-Nagoya had not won an Asian Games archery medal before. Only Jyothi Surekha Vennam, Ankita Bhakat and Dhiraj Bommadevara were returning medallists.
- Kumkum Mohod was the standout of 2026, winning a medal in all three recurve events she entered.
- Dhiraj Bommadevara has 3 silvers from two Games, but is still chasing his first Asian Games gold.
The road to LA 2028
Los Angeles 2028 will stage six archery events, one more than Paris 2024, with compound making its Olympic debut in a mixed team event. The IOC confirmed the addition on 9 April 2025 (World Archery).
| Event | Bow | New for 2028? |
|---|---|---|
| Men’s individual | Recurve | No |
| Women’s individual | Recurve | No |
| Men’s team | Recurve | No |
| Women’s team | Recurve | No |
| Mixed team | Recurve | No |
| Mixed team | Compound | Yes |
Archery will be held at Carson Stadium, home of the LA Galaxy, from 19 to 28 July 2028 (NBC Olympics). Qualification details and athlete numbers have not yet been announced.
Why it matters for India. India has never won an Olympic archery medal. Its best result came at Paris 2024, when Dhiraj Bommadevara and Ankita Bhakat reached the mixed team semi-finals, a first for India, and lost the bronze match to the USA 2-6 (Scroll).
LA 2028 gives India two routes to a first medal:
- Compound mixed team. India has won the Asian Games compound mixed team gold twice in a row: Jyothi Surekha Vennam and Ojas Deotale in 2022, Chikitha Taniparthi and Sahil Rajesh Jadhav in 2026.
- Recurve. The 2026 recurve results (5 medals, including Kumkum Mohod’s individual gold) show India’s Olympic-bow archers are closing the gap. Both Paris 2024 semi-finalists won recurve medals again at Aichi-Nagoya.
The verdict
Indian archery has turned two silvers into two straight 9-medal hauls in eight years. Compound has delivered the gold, and recurve is now delivering too. With compound arriving at the Olympics and a young recurve squad on the rise, LA 2028 is India’s best chance yet of a first Olympic archery medal.