Asian Games archery: Ganesh clinches men’s individual bronze

Indian compound archer Ganesh Mani Ratnam Thirumuru won the men's individual bronze at the Asian Games in Nagoya, defeating Vietnam's Cong Duc Dang 149-144. Ganesh, who won team gold on Wednesday, secured India's first individual compound archery medal at these Games

Nagoya: Indian compound archer Ganesh Mani Ratnam Thirumuru produced a commanding performance to win the men’s individual bronze medal at the Asian Games here on Thursday.

Ganesh, who was part of the gold-winning men’s team on Wednesday, defeated Vietnam’s Cong Duc Dang 149-144 in the bronze medal playoff after bowing out of individual gold contention with a semifinal loss.

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It was perfect shooting from the 20-year-old Indian in the playoff as he was on target with 14 of his 15 shots.

Ganesh had lost 144-148 to Kim Jongho of South Korea in the semifinal after he could not replicate his stupendous quarterfinal form. He trailed throughout in the last-four stage and eventually went down 29-30, 29-30, 29-28, 29-30, 28-30.

On winning the medal, Ganesh said, “I had some wonderful scores out there and it feels great to get the first individual medal (in compound) for India (at the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games).

“It is down to all the hard work we have gone through and having the team behind us.”

Asked about losing in the semifinal, he said, “My psychologist prepared me. Whatever is done, you have to prepare for the next match and be ready for it.

“I feel really great about my shooting. I thought I shot great arrows in every match and I don’t think the semifinal is a match I need to worry about.

“We have Asia Cup and many more (tournaments) coming up so I will go back to training.”

Speaking about his love for archery, Ganesh said, “I just love the shooting, the feeling it gives me. I love everything about it. I feel very confident about my shooting. I just focus on myself and give my best.”

Ganesh had defeated Chinese Taipei’s Chieh-Lun Chen 148-138 in the quarterfinals earlier in the day at the Okazaki Chuo Sogo Park Multipurpose Square here.

In that matchup, Ganesh won all five series with scores of 29-28, 29-28, 30-29, 30-26, 30-27. He shot only two 9s, in the opening two series, before going on a spree of hitting 10s.

Earlier, Chikitha Taniparthi missed out on a hat-trick of medals after bowing out of the women’s compound individual quarterfinals.

Chikitha, who won gold medals in both the women’s team and mixed team compound events on Wednesday, lost 143-144 to Indonesia’s Nurisa Dian Ashrifah in the last-eight stage.