India takes all three compound team golds at the Asian Games in Okazaki

India completed a sweep of the three compound archery team titles at the Asian Games in Okazaki on 30 September. The women's team beat China 238-234. The mixed pair beat South Korea in a shoot-off. The men's team then beat China 238-237. No other country took a compound team gold on the day.

The women's trio was Chikitha Taniparthi, Prithika Pradeep and Jyothi Surekha Vennam. They were defending the title won at the previous Games in Hangzhou. India had been second in 2018 and third in 2014. The 238 they shot matches the world record South Korea set at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon. China, shooting Wunier, Yue Wang and Fangyao Wei, finished four points back.

The shoot-off that also moved an Olympic place

Chikitha and Sahil Jadhav then shot the mixed final against South Korea's Park Jungyoon and Choi Yonghee. IANS had the regulation match level at 157-157. PTI's account had India forcing the shoot-off after Sahil's last arrow levelled a match Korea had pulled back, and a final score of 158-157 after the shoot-off. Both versions agree on the ending. Chikitha and Sahil each hit the 10 ring in the shoot-off. Choi managed a nine. The gold also carries a quota place for the Los Angeles Games in 2028, the first concrete Olympic berth this result produces.

The pair had reached the final by beating Thailand 156-155. China's Fangyao Wei and Jinyi Liu took the bronze. The match turned on two nines from Chikitha. One cut a lead to a single point, 118-117 after the third end. Korea then shot a perfect end, and India needed two 10s from the last two arrows to win in regulation. Chikitha hit another nine. Sahil hit the 10 and forced the shoot-off. The quota place was decided by that arrow and by the two 10s that followed.

The men's final, by one point

Kushal Dalal, Sahil Jadhav and Ganesh Mani Ratnam Thirumuru closed the day against China. IANS described a deficit that India wiped out with a perfect final end after China dropped an eight on its opening arrow of that end. China then shot three 10s and still lost, 238-237. Sahil's second gold of the day is the individual fact inside the team score. He shot the mixed final in the morning session of the compound programme and the men's final after it.

Compound archery is shot with sights and mechanical release. Scores cluster near the maximum, which is why a single eight decides a match that both teams otherwise shoot in the 230s. The women's 238 and the men's 238-237 are the same neighbourhood. The difference is that the women matched a record and the men survived an eight. Korea, the usual favourite in the compound events, left Okazaki with neither team gold. Its mixed pair was the one India beat in the shoot-off.

Where this sits in the medal table

School and agency roundups on 1 October had India on about 60 medals and 10 golds at these Games, with the archery sweep inside that count. The women's hockey side had reached the final by beating South Korea, a separate result on the same days. The archery number that will still matter in 2028 is the mixed quota. Team golds at the Asian Games do not by themselves send a full squad to Los Angeles. The mixed place does. Chikitha and Sahil are the names on that place, unless a later selection rule inside the Indian federation moves it. The federation has not said it will.