National Games 2025 Archery: World Cup winner Dhiraj Bommadevara lauds the world-class facilities; compares them with international standards

Archery World Cup gold medalist Dhiraj Bommadevara has expressed his admiration for the facilities provided at the National Games 2025, calling them "world-class" and comparable to international tournaments. The archery competitions at the 38th National Games are being held at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Uttarakhand from February 1 to 7.

Bommadevara, a multiple-time Archery World Cup medalist and an Asian Games 2023 silver medalist in the men’s recurve team event, was highly impressed with the arrangements for archers. Speaking about his experience, he said,

"The facilities created here for archery are exceptional. The finals podium, qualification grounds, everything is at a world-class level. Playing here felt like competing in a World Cup. We hope such facilities are made available for every tournament, so more archers get this kind of exposure and feel comfortable at the international level."

The 23-year-old made his Olympic debut at the Paris 2024 Games, where he came agonizingly close to securing a medal. He reached the second round of the individual recurve event and the quarterfinals of the men’s recurve team event. However, his best performance came in the mixed recurve event, where he partnered with Ankita Bhakat. The duo finished fourth, narrowly missing a podium spot after losing the bronze medal match 6-2 to the USA’s Casey Kaufhold and Brady Ellison.

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Dhiraj Bommadevara returns with a bronze medal in recurve men’s team event at the National Games 2025

Dhiraj Bommadevara managed to secure a bronze medal for the Services Sports Control Board (SSCB) in the recurve men’s team event at the National Games 2025. After losing to Jharkhand in the semifinals, his team bounced back to defeat Haryana in the bronze medal match and claim third place on the podium. Meanwhile, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh secured gold and silver medals respectively.

However, in the recurve men’s individual event, Dhiraj Bommadevara suffered an early exit, losing in the first round to Uttarakhand’s Jitender Rawat.