Indian archers win silver and bronze in recurve team events, end 13-year wait
Hangzhou (PTI): A 13-year wait ended in archery on Friday when the Indian men's and women's teams surpassed expectations to clinch a silver and bronze respectively, their first medals since 2010, at the Asian Games here on Friday.
Battling injuries, the recurve team of Ankita Bhakat, Simranjeet Kaur and Bhajan Kaur defied odds to clinch a bronze medal in the morning session.
The fifth-seeded women's trio dropped just one set to down their Vietnamese rivals 6-2 (56-52, 55-56, 57-50, 51-48) and secure their first-ever Asian Games medal in the Olympic-discipline category since Guangzhou 2010.
The women's team's splendid show then rubbed off on their male counterparts as the triumvirate of Atanu Das, Tushar Shelke, and Dhiraj Bommadevara returned with a silver medal.
They defeated Bangladesh's Sagor Islam, Hakim Rubel and Ruman Shana 5-3 (58-51, 57-54, 56-58, 57-57) in a lopsided semifinal.
But up against heavyweights South Korea in the gold medal clash, the Indian trio faltered 5-1 (55-60, 57-57, 55-56). The Indians had a splendid second set, drawing level to make it 1-3.
In the third set, the Koreans slipped to the 8-ring but that did not matter much as Lee Wooseok, Oh Jinhyek and Kim Je Deok pipped India by a point to take the third set and seal the gold.
The last time India had won a medal in recurve category at the Asian Games was 13 years ago when they bagged an individual silver and team bronze medals in men's and women's events.
For India, this was their record eighth medal overall in archery at the ongoing games. They have already won three team gold medals in mixed, women's and men's events of the non-Olympic compound section.
Abhishek Verma and Ojas Deotale are vying for a top-two finish, having made it an all-India final in compound individual section.
Jyothi Surekha Vennam has also advanced into the women's compound individual final, assuring at least a silver medal.
The fifth-seeded Indian women's team started the day on a positive manner ousting higher-ranked Japan 6-2 (53-49, 56-54, 53-54, 54-51) in the quarterfinals to seal a clash against heavyweights South Korea.
Boasting triple Olympic gold winner from Tokyo, An San, the top-seeded Koreans were the next in line but the Indians managed to snatch one set from the top-seed before going down 2-6 (54-56, 54-57, 57-55, 52-57).
In the bronze playoff, 18-year-old Bhajan Kaur, who is battling a shoulder injury for more than a year, stood out with six 10s from her eight arrows as they overcame lower-ranked Vietanmese in a dramatic finish.
Do Thi Anh Nguyet, Nguyen Thi Thanh Nhi and Hoang Phuong Thao bounced back from 0-2 behind to make it 2-2 and the Indians then regained the lead with Bhajan drilling in two 10s in the penultimate end.
Indian shot last in the final set and they needed 21 points from final three arrows.
Shooting second Simranjeet Kaur, who too carried a shoulder niggle, slipped to the six-ring.
Bhajan, who shot last among the trio, needed a seven to seal the bronze. The teenager showed amazing calmness to come up with an 8 to end the 13-year wait.
"It was a very important medal for us. We have been practising for a lot of years and it's very valuable for us and I'm very happy," said Simranjeet.
On handling pressure, she said: "Because when you are shooting for something, it's a pressure situation. But we as a team, we just focused on ourselves."
In men's event later in the day, seniormost Atanu Das fumbled twice before coming up with a perfect 10 in the shoot-off as India overcame some jittery moments to go past 11th seeded Mongolia 5-4 (58-52, 55-56, 59-56, 56-58) (28-25) in the quarterfinal.
The match had its ups and downs with India losing their lead twice to Mongolia when Das hit in the red-ring in the second and four set.
But the two-time Olympian, who starts first among the Indian trio, was a picture of calmness in the shootoff hitting a 10 as they totalled 28.
Mongolia, who were to shoot last, crumbled under pressure and shot their last arrow in the outer seven-ring.
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'Made in India' must become symbol of excellence, global competitiveness: PM
New Delhi (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday called upon states to encourage manufacturing, boost 'ease of doing business' and strengthen the services sector to make India a global services giant.
Addressing the 5th National Conference of Chief Secretaries here, Modi emphasised the need for quality in governance, service delivery and manufacturing, and said the label 'Made in India' must become a symbol of excellence and global competitiveness.
He said India has the potential to become the world's food basket and the country must move towards high-value agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry, dairying and fisheries to become a major food exporter.
"Called upon states to encourage manufacturing, boost 'Ease of Doing Business' and strengthen the services sector. Let us aim to make India a Global Services Giant," Modi said in a series of posts on X.
The theme of the three-day conference, which began on December 26, was 'Human Capital for Viksit Bharat'.
Modi observed that this conference marks another decisive step in strengthening the spirit of cooperative federalism and deepening Centre-State partnership to achieve the vision of a 'Viksit Bharat'.
Highlighting India's demographic advantage, he said nearly 70 per cent of the population is in the working-age group, creating a unique historical opportunity which, when combined with economic progress, can significantly accelerate the journey towards a 'Viksit Bharat', according to an official statement.
Modi said India has boarded the "Reform Express", driven primarily by the strength of its young population, and empowering this demographic remains the government's key priority.
He noted that the conference is being held at a time when the country is witnessing next-generation reforms and steadily moving towards becoming a major global economic power.
Underlining the need to strengthen 'atmanirbharta' (self-reliance), he said India must pursue self-reliance with zero defect in products and minimal environmental impact, making the label 'Made in India' synonymous with quality and strengthening the commitment to "zero effect, zero defect".
The PM urged the Centre and states to jointly identify 100 products for domestic manufacturing to reduce import dependence and strengthen economic resilience in line with the vision of 'Viksit Bharat'.
In higher education, too, he said, there is a need for academia and industry to work together to create high-quality talent.
He highlighted that India has a rich heritage and history with the potential to be among the top global tourist destinations.
Modi urged the states to prepare a roadmap for creating at least one global-level tourist destination and nourishing an entire tourist ecosystem.
He said it is important to align the national sports calendar with the global sports calendar.
"India is working to host the 2036 Olympics. India needs to prepare infrastructure and sports ecosystem at par with global standards," he said.
The prime minister said the next 10 years must be invested in the states, only then will India get the desired results in such sports events.
Every state must give this top priority and create infrastructure to attract global companies, he said.
In the services sector, Modi said, there should be greater emphasis on other areas like healthcare, education, transport, tourism, professional services and artificial intelligence, etc. to make India a global services giant.
He said India will soon be launching the National Manufacturing Mission (NMM).
States should work in tandem with the discussions and decisions emerging from the conferences of both chief secretaries and DGPs to strengthen governance and implementation.
The PM said similar conferences could be replicated at the departmental level to promote a national perspective among officers and improve governance outcomes in pursuit of a 'Viksit Bharat'.
In conclusion, he said every state must create a 10-year actionable plan based on the discussions of this conference with one, two, five and 10-year target timelines wherein technology can be utilised for regular monitoring.
The conference featured a series of special sessions that enabled focused deliberations on cross-cutting and emerging priorities.
It marks another important milestone in strengthening the Centre-State partnership through structured and sustained dialogue on national development priorities, according to the statement.
The PM's principal secretaries P K Mishra and Shaktikanta Das, Cabinet Secretary T V Somanathan, members of the NITI Aayog, chief secretaries of all states and Union territories, and domain experts attended the meeting.
Anchored in the prime minister's vision of cooperative federalism, this conference serves as the forum where the Centre and states collaborate, designing a unified roadmap to maximise India's human capital potential and accelerate inclusive, future-ready growth.
It has been organised annually over the past four years.
The first conference was held in Dharamshala in June 2022, followed by subsequent conferences in New Delhi in January 2023, December 2023 and December 2024.
