India's Ganesh Mani Ratnam Thirumuru won the bronze medal in the men's individual compound archery event at the Asian Games 2026 at the Okazaki Chuo Sogo Park Multipurpose Square on Thursday.
The 20-year-old defeated Vietnam's Cong Duc Dang 149-144 in four Ends to secure India's first individual medal in compound archery at the ongoing Games. The bronze medal was Ganesh's second medal of the Asian Games 2026. He was also part of India's gold-winning men's compound archery team on Wednesday.
Ganesh was highly consistent throughout the bronze-medal match, missing the 10-ring only once. He narrowly missed equalling the Asian record held by his compatriot Ojas Deotale.
The Path To The Podium
Ganesh Mani's journey to the bronze medal was marked by a series of hard-fought victories. The archery competitions at the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games started on September 26 and will conclude on October 3.
After progressing through the earlier elimination rounds, Ganesh edged past compatriot Sahil Jadhav 149-148 in the Round of 16 on September 28 to book his place in the quarterfinals. He continued his strong run on October 1, defeating Chinese Taipei's Chen Chieh-lun 148-138 in the quarterfinals to move into the last four.
However, his hopes of fighting for gold ended in a closely contested semi-final against South Korea's Kim Jongho. Ganesh lost 144-148, but bounced back strongly in the bronze-medal match to secure a place on the podium.
Ganesh Mani Ratnam Thirumuru: From Junior Champion To Asian Games Medallist
Ganesh, who represented India at the 2023 World Youth Championships in Ireland, hails from Naidupeta, a municipal town in the Tirupati district of Andhra Pradesh.
At the championships, he took a silver medal in the men's Under-18 team event.. Ganesh is the Junior Asian Champion 2024, and made his debut in India's senior national team.
A year later, he added another major achievement to his record when he won the Junior World Championship title in Canada. He has now added another feather to his rapidly swelling cap with his bronze medal finish in the men's individual compound archery event at the 2026 Asian Games.
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