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Journalism of Courage
Shortly after the event’s addition to the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic programme, India had some good news in compound mixed team from the Central Florida World Cup Stage 1 in Aurburndale on Friday. Jyothi Surekha Vennam and Rishabh Yadav, who were 5th seeds by virtue of their qualification scores, beat Spain (156-149), Denmark (156-154), and Slovenia (159-155) in the knockout rounds to set up a final against Chinese Taipei on Saturday.
On Thursday, a jet-lagged Dhiraj Bommadevara, who landed in the US just hours before the competition due to visa issues, guided the Indian men’s recurve team into the final. The fifth-seeded Indian team, also comprising seasoned campaigners Tarundeep Rai and Atanu Das, defeated Spain 6-2 to book a place in the gold medal match against third seeds China.
The Indian women’s compound archery side was forced to miss the season-opening World Cup Stage 1 event in the USA due to a visa delay, a setback that “cost the team a medal, believes national coach Jiwanjot Singh Teja. The all-conquering Indian women’s compound team, which won all the three gold medals that were up for grabs in 2024, failed to compete as a full unit of four members — world champion Aditi Swami, Madhura Dhamangaonkar and Taniparthi Chikitha — were unable to travel to Aurburndale, Florida, after failing to secure their US visas on time. Only Jyothi was able to compete.
“It was a sure shot medal missed,” Teja, who himself could not travel to the USA, told PTI. The Indian men’s compound team of Abhishek Verma, Ojas Deotale, and Rishabh Yadav salvaged some pride, clinching a bronze medal on Wednesday.
Teja explained that the Archery Association of India had foreseen the potential delay and acted swiftly by applying for visa three months in advance. “We conducted the selection trials three months ago, and right after announcing the squad, we applied for the US visas. We were aware of the appointment backlog,” Teja said. Despite the efforts and follow-up with the US embassy and later the sports ministry, the visa appointments came very late — on April 7 — and the visas were issued on April 8, by which time the compound competition had already started.
(With PTI inputs)
