The Indian women's compound archery side was forced to miss the season-opening World Cup Stage 1 event in the USA due to a visa delay, a setback that "cost the team a medal, believes national coach Jiwanjot Singh Teja.
World No. 1 Indian women's compound team, which won all the three gold medals that were up for grabs in 2024, failed to compete as three members -- world champion Aditi Swami, Madhura Dhamangaonkar and Taniparthi Chikitha -- were unable to travel to Aurburndale, Florida, after failing to secure their US visas on time.
"It was a sure shot medal missed," lamented Teja, who himself could not travel to the USA.
"We had a 100 per cent chance in the women's team event. We won all three World Cup gold medals last year -- in Shanghai, Yecheon, and Antalya. Unfortunately, we couldn't defend our title this time," he told PTI.
In their absence, the Indian men's compound team of Abhishek Verma, Ojas Deotale, and Rishabh Yadav salvaged some pride, clinching a bronze medal on Wednesday.
Teja, a Dronacharya awardee in 2022, had guided Harvinder Singh to India's first-ever Paralympic archery medal (bronze) in Tokyo in 2021.
He was again at the helm when Harvinder won a historic gold at the Paris Paralympics last year.
The absence of 18-year-old Aditi Swami, who became world champion in 2023 and won an Asian Games bronze the same year, was a big blow to India's medal prospects in the individual section too.
Maharashtra's Madhura Dhamangaonkar, who returned to the national team after three years, also saw her comeback derailed by the visa issue.
The 24-year-old had debuted at the 2018 Asia Cup in Taipei and competed in the 2022 Medellin World Cup but is yet to win an international medal.
Telangana's 19-year-old Chikitha, who showed promise at the Asia Cup Stage 1 in February, winning her maiden international bronze in Bangkok, was also forced to stay back. She made her international debut in 2023 at the Asia Cup in Tashkent.
Jyothi Surekha Vennam, India's three-time World Championship medallist, was the lone Indian woman to compete in the compound section in Florida. She qualified as the fifth seed.
Teja explained that the Archery Association of India (AAI) had foreseen the potential delay and acted swiftly by applying for visa three months in advance.
"We conducted the selection trials three months ago, and right after announcing the squad, we applied for the US visas. We were aware of the appointment backlog," Teja said.
Despite the efforts and follow-up with the US embassy and later the sports ministry, the visa appointments came very late -- on April 7 -- and the visas were issued on April 8, by which time the compound competition had already started.
India were scheduled to send a 23-member contingent, including archers, coaches, and support staff, for the event.
After repeated delays, visa approvals came only for 14 members, leaving nine in limbo.
The AAI even made an appeal on Instagram: "Regrettably, despite our relentless efforts and multiple follow-ups over the past 40 days, the Indian archery team is still facing significant challenges in securing a US visa appointment due to unforeseen system issues."
Eventually, with the intervention of the ministry of external affairs, the remaining appointments were secured.
However, two of the nine applicants were denied visas, while the other seven -- including the three women compound archers -- received clearance on April 8, the day the competition began.
"There was no point sending the three compound archers after the event had started. We had to cancel their tickets," AAI assistant secretary Gunjan Abrol told PTI.
Instead, India managed to send two recurve archers, Dhiraj Bommadevara and Anisha Kumari, who reached just in time for their events, which were scheduled a day later.
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