World number three compound archer Jyothi Surekha Vennam has expressed full confidence in her younger teammates Taniparthi Chikitha and Prithika Pradeep, asserting that India's new-look squad carries the temperament and competitive pedigree to replicate their gold-medal run at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games when the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games 2026 gets underway in Japan from 19 September.

A New Squad, Familiar Ambitions

The 29-year-old Jyothi, a three-time gold medallist at Hangzhou, will step onto the Asiad stage for the fourth time, now flanked by two rising stars. Chikitha, 20, is the reigning compound U21 world youth champion from Winnipeg 2025, while Prithika claimed silver in the U18 category at the same event. Their elevation to the senior squad came through a rigorous selection process, and both have already featured in senior-circuit competitions including the World Cups, the World Championship, and the Asian Championship.

'Although we have young archers in our team, they are highly capable — which is exactly why they were selected for the Indian team after a rigorous selection process,' Jyothi said at a press conference organised by the Sports Authority of India (SAI) on Tuesday. She noted that the trio has yet to compete together as a unit, calling the upcoming World Cup Stage 3 and Stage 4 outings critical for sharpening team strategy before the Games.

Dhiraj on Filling the Experience Gap

On the recurve side, the absence of veteran Atanu Das — a long-standing presence in Indian archery — has drawn attention. Olympian Dhiraj Bommedevara addressed the transition directly, crediting the culture of knowledge-sharing within the squad. 'Even though Atanu Bhaiya and Tarundeep Rai are not in the team right now, they have been with us for a very long time. The best part is that whenever the team is together, experience is always shared with everyone. They have already taught us so much — what to expect, what hurdles we might face, and how to handle them,' Dhiraj said.

He added that the team is focused on solutions rather than absences: 'We are constantly talking about solutions. No matter how the team changes in the future, we want that knowledge to be passed down. Because of this culture of sharing, adjusting hasn't been a big problem for me.'

Japan Exposure Camp and Games Schedule

The Asiad-bound archers are scheduled for an exposure camp in Japan from 5 to 18 September, giving the squad a fortnight of acclimatisation before competition begins. The Asian Games 2026 runs from 19 September to 4 October in Aichi-Nagoya.

Commonwealth Games 2030 and the Archery Question

Both Jyothi and Dhiraj also weighed in on India hosting the centenary Commonwealth Games in 2030 and the prospect of archery's inclusion. 'It is the centenary of the Commonwealth — I think that is one thing which is really appreciable because it has been a long time since there was a big stage event like this in India after 2010. If archery is included in it again, it will be great news for all archers and for the entire fraternity,' Jyothi said, adding that India stands among the top nations in the Commonwealth in the discipline.

Dhiraj framed the home Games as an opportunity for grassroots inspiration: 'When such events are hosted in our country, every kid who wants to do archery can watch how such Games are conducted. We are so lucky that it is going to happen.'

With the exposure camp, two World Cup stages, and a home Commonwealth Games on the horizon, Indian archery's generational transition is being managed with deliberate intent — and the Aichi-Nagoya Games will be the first real measure of how well it has worked.