Atanu Das guaranteed himself a medal upon his return to international archery as India reached the recurve men’s team gold medal match for Central Florida 2025.
The Swiss Open bronze medallist missed the entire 2024 season after failing to qualify through India’s national trials. Now 33, Das’s return is more than welcome, an official report said.
“It feels good to be back again,” said Das after he, Dhiraj Bommadevara and Tarundeep Rai defeated Spain in the semifinals. “Last year was not so good for me in archery, but otherwise in life it was quite well. In archery it was tough for me a little bit, and I was craving to get back into the team, win medals for India, win medals for myself and improve.”
“I feel like I’m a better person now.”
The Indian recurve team arrived to the Lake Myrtle Sports Complex for qualifications just one hour after landing in the USA yesterday, making it far from an idyllic start to the first Hyundai Archery World Cup stage of 2025.
But with a full day to settle, Das, Bommadevara and Rai made their recharged energy count as they swept past Brazil, Indonesia and Spain all 6-2 in the recurve set system to reach a final against China, the Antalya 2024 bronze medallists. The Chinese women also qualified for Sunday’s finals.
“When I started the ranking round, it was a little bit shaky for me because it’s been a while. One year out is a little long, because I didn’t play any outdoor tournaments last year,” added Das.
“I did well. Sometimes you shoot good and an arrow that doesn’t hit the expected distance but it’s archery. I’m having fun.”
The morning session in Central Florida wasn’t so fun for Das’ wife, four-time Olympian Deepika Kumari, as the Indian recurve women were eliminated by the host nation USA in the quarterfinals, 6-2.
Casey Kaufhold, Catalina Gnoriega and Jennifer Mucino had before beaten Paris 2024 bronze medallists Mexico by the same scoreline, a squad that included Pan American Games Champion Alejandra Valencia. After India, they faced a stiffer semifinal test from bronze medallists Chinese Taipei.
Despite dropping the first two sets, Chiu Yi-Ching, Hsu Hsin-tzu and Li Cai Xuan fought back 55-54 and 53-52 in the third and fourth to force a shoot-off. But a costly wide seven from 20-year-old Li – who is making her World Cup debut, as is 17-year-old Hsu – handed the USA its recurve women’s team circuit final in 10 years.
“Today was a lot more comfortable for sure,” commented recently crowned Indoor World Series Champion Kaufhold. “These are conditions that we see quite often, just a little bit of wind, so for our confidence, it meant a lot.”
“That contributed to us just being able to step up on the line, shoot good shots and do really well together as a team.”
Action continues this afternoon in Auburndale, Central Florida with compound individual eliminations.