Nagpur’s Ojas, Amravati’s Madhura To Play For India In Archery World Cups

Nagpur: Three days after he set the tone for a bright 2026, Nagpur's Ojas Pravin Deotale gave a fine finish to the selection trials in Kolkata on his way to once again secure an India berth for Stage 1 & 2 of the Archery World Cup.Amravati's Madhura Dhamangaonkar will join former world compound archery champion Ojas in the first 2 World Cups scheduled in Puebla, Mexico (April 7–12) and Shanghai, China (May 5–10). Both the Vidarbha archers confirmed their berth in the Indian men's and women's teams after finishing second, respectively, in the selection trials, which concluded at the SAI Eastern Regional Centre in Kolkata on Friday.The top 4 finishers in both the compound and recurve archery trials made the cut in the senior Indian teams.In the 8-member compound men's and women's teams, as many as 4 archers practise under Pravin Sawant at Satara's Drushti Archery Academy.In the compound men's category, Ojas marginally missed the top position to his academy trainee Sahil Jadhav. While Sahil emerged on top of the table, collecting 13.75 points, Ojas (13) finished second. Haryana's Kushal Dalal (12.75) and experienced Abhishek Verma of Delhi (11.5) followed the Maharashtra archers to complete the Indian men's team line-up.The women's compound trials were dominated by multiple World Cup medallist Jyothi Surekha Vennam of Andhra Pradesh. Representing Airport Authority of India, Jyothi sealed the top position by a handy margin of 3.5 points. The 29-year-old Jyothi garnered 15.25 to dominate the trials. Amravati's Madhura finished second (11.75), as Satara's Aditi Swami (11) and Delhi's Pragati (9.5) completed the Indian women's team line-up.Ojas was happy with his overall performance. "I am satisfied with my performance here in Kolkata. At both the World Cups, my target will be to win individual and team medals. Ours is a strong team and we all will give our best," Ojas told TOI.With the mixed team in compound archery being introduced in the LA 2028 Olympic Games, Ojas expects tough competition in Mexico and China. He said, "Of course, competition will be different from now on till the 2028 Olympics, but we too will be well prepared as our coaches already made plans for us to improve further."Ojas will now go to France to participate in an indoor competition.