Promising Chikitha Taniparthi gave India’s compound title defence a strong start as qualification opened at the 20th Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan.
The 21-year-old shot a career-best 705 to take the top seed in compound women, setting the pace with a round featuring 28 tens and 30 Xs – with the X-ring being the central zone within the 10-ring used to break ties in qualification.
Taniparthi, the Winnipeg 2025 World Archery Youth Champion, finished one point ahead of Iran’s world number 161 Bita Asheghzadeh Oskouei, who also produced a career best 704.
Hangzhou 2022 triple gold medallist Jyothi Surekha Vennam scored 699 to finish 13th.
Taniparthi’s 705 and Sahil Rajesh Jadhav’s 709 – the highest score among the Indian compound men – also put India first in compound mixed team qualification with 1414.
However, the Indian women’s team – which also included Prithika Pradeep’s 695 – secured the second place in team rankings behind China, despite nations totalling 2099 (China had 82Xs to India’s 74).
The standard was high across both compound fields.
Eleven compound women broke the 700-point mark in qualification at the Okazaki Chuo Sogo Park Multipurpose Square in Aichi Prefecture, while 21 men surpassed the benchmark.
