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Indian archers Dhiraj Bommadevara and Neeraj Chauhan advanced to the quarterfinals of the men's recurve individual event at the Asian Games 2026 after registering contrasting victories in the Round of 16 here on Tuesday.
Top seed Dhiraj overcame Chinese Taipei's Cheng Hsiang-Hui 6-2, while Neeraj produced a strong performance to upset South Korea's multiple Olympic medallist Kim Je Deok 6-4, according to ESPN. Dhiraj, who had earlier defeated Philippines' Girvin Garcia 6-0 in the Round of 32, was made to work harder by Cheng but held his nerve to seal the contest 6-2. He will face Uzbekistan's Amirkon Sadikov in the quarterfinals on October 3. Neeraj, meanwhile, pulled off one of the day's notable wins by getting past Kim, who had qualified second in the ranking round. The Indian made a strong start and took a 3-1 lead, but Kim fought back to level the contest at 3-3. A tied set then made it 4-4, leaving the match to be decided in the final set. Neeraj held his composure under pressure to take the deciding set and complete a 6-4 victory. He will face Bhutan's Dorji Lam in the quarterfinals. Dhiraj had enjoyed a more comfortable passage into the last 16, beating Garcia 6-0 in three straight sets. He needed only nine arrows to complete the win, with six of his nine shots landing in the 10-ring. India's surfing campaign, meanwhile, came to an end after Kishore Kumar Anbarasu lost his men's shortboard quarterfinal to Philippines' Toby Espejon. Kishore's two best scores from eight waves were 3.00 and 2.37, giving him a total of 5.37, while Espejon finished with 8.53. The athletics programme also offers India further medal opportunities on Tuesday, with Gulveer Singh eyeing a third medal of the Games in the men's 5000m final after winning silver in the 1500m and 10,000m. Avinash Sable will also compete in the 5000m, while three Indian relay teams are scheduled to feature in medal races. The men's and women's 4x400m and mixed 4x100m finals are among the events on the track. In boxing, Parveen Hooda, Ankush Panghal and Narender Berwal will compete in their respective semi-finals, with each assured of at least a bronze medal. Parveen faces China's Li Shu in the women's 65kg semi-final, Ankush takes on Uzbekistan's Fazliddin Erkinboev in the men's 80kg category, while Narender meets Kazakhstan's Aibek Oralbay in the men's +90kg bout. India will also be in action in shooting, squash, volleyball, tennis, cycling, canoe slalom, sport climbing and kurash on Tuesday. (ANI)
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