Anurag Thakur hails India's compound archery gold at Asian Games 2026
Synopsis
BJP MP Anurag Thakur celebrated as Indian archers Kushal Dalal, Sahil Rajesh Jadhav and Ganesh Maniratnam Thirumuru won the Compound Men's Team gold at the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, boosting India's medal tally at the quadrennial continental event.
Key Takeaways
Kushal Dalal , Sahil Rajesh Jadhav , and Ganesh Maniratnam Thirumuru won gold in the Compound Men's Team archery event at the 2026 Asian Games .
The win came at the games hosted by Aichi-Nagoya, Japan , the quadrennial multi-sport event for Asian nations.
BJP MP and former Sports Minister Anurag Thakur publicly congratulated the trio on 30 September 2026 .
Compound archery has been a priority discipline under India's Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) , launched in 2014 .
The gold adds to India's #Cheer4Bharat medal tally, with the Asian Games campaign ongoing.
Three Indian archers turned Aichi-Nagoya gold on Wednesday, 30 September 2026 — and BJP MP Anurag Thakur was among the first to put the achievement on the national record. Kushal Dalal, Sahil Rajesh Jadhav, and Ganesh Maniratnam Thirumuru clinched the Compound Men's Team title at the 2026 Asian Games, handing India one of its brightest moments of the campaign.
A clean sweep of gold for the compound trio
Thakur, a former Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, posted a jubilant 'Gold! Gold! Gold!' on X, offering his 'heartiest congratulations' to the three archers for 'clinching GOLD in the Compound Men's Team event.' The triple exclamation was not theatrical — compound archery gold at the Asian Games is exactly the kind of continental podium India's sports ecosystem has been engineered to reach.
Kushal Dalal, Sahil Rajesh Jadhav, and Ganesh Maniratnam Thirumuru form the men's compound team that delivered the result. Compound archery — contested with mechanically assisted bows that allow near-perfect precision — has been a competitive sweet spot for Indian archers, who have consistently challenged East Asian dominance in the discipline at continental level.
India's long archery investment pays off in Japan
The 2026 Asian Games are hosted by Aichi-Nagoya, Japan — the quadrennial gathering of the continent's finest athletes. Archery has been a priority discipline under India's Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS), launched in 2014, which channels financial and training support to elite athletes in medal-viable events. Successive governments have also backed national coaching camps and equipment upgrades for both compound and recurve formats since the early 2010s.
A compound team gold in Japan is the kind of result that validates that sustained investment. It also keeps India's broader #Cheer4Bharat medal tally moving — the Sports Ministry will track every podium as a data point ahead of the next Olympic cycle.
Thakur's personal stake in the moment
Thakur's congratulations carry institutional weight beyond the tweet. During his tenure as Sports Minister, he oversaw the acceleration of India's high-performance framework, including increased engagement with archery federations and athletes. His post — naming each archer individually — signals that the policy community is watching results with granular attention, not just celebrating the tricolour in the abstract.
Three names. One gold. India's archers have delivered a continental statement — and the Asian Games campaign still has more arrows left in the quiver.
Point of View
And this result in Aichi-Nagoya validates that framework. Anurag Thakur's pointed, name-by-name congratulation also signals how India's political establishment has repositioned sports achievement as national-brand currency. The question now is whether this compound gold accelerates institutional focus on recurve formats, where Olympic medals remain elusive.
NationPress
30 Sept 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
Who won the compound men's team archery gold at Asian Games 2026?
India's Kushal Dalal , Sahil Rajesh Jadhav , and Ganesh Maniratnam Thirumuru won the Compound Men's Team gold at the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan.
Where are the 2026 Asian Games being held?
The 2026 Asian Games are hosted by Aichi-Nagoya, Japan . It is a quadrennial multi-sport event for nations across the Asian continent.
What is compound archery?
Compound archery is a discipline that uses mechanically assisted bows with pulleys, allowing for high precision at longer distances. It is contested in both individual and team formats at the Asian Games.
What is India's Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS)?
The Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) was launched in 2014 to provide financial, coaching and logistical support to Indian athletes in medal-viable Olympic and Asian Games disciplines, including archery.
Why did Anurag Thakur congratulate the Indian archery team?
Anurag Thakur , BJP MP and former Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, congratulated the trio because India's compound men's team clinched gold at the 2026 Asian Games , a milestone in a sport he actively supported during his ministerial tenure.
