Preview: Thailand welcomes first Asian world ranking event of 2022

Despite restrictions relating to COVID-19 making travel difficult and forcing a move of the opening leg of the 2022 Asia Cup from its usual location in the Thai capital of Bangkok to the island of Phuket, the first world ranking event of this year’s Asian competition calendar is set to begin this week.

Taking place from 14-19 March 2022, a month ahead of the international outdoor season's official start in April, some 104 archers from 11 different countries will compete.

India’s full team of 16 archers is the biggest in Phuket and is entirely made up of young archers born in the 2000s, many of whom have been training at the World Archery Excellence Centre in Lausanne recently. The squad does not feature big-hitters such as Atanu Das, Deepika Kumari, Ankita Bhakat, Abhishek Verma and Jyothi Surekha Vennam.

In the recurve men’s competition, Malaysia's Khairul Anuar Mohamad, the world number 25, will be pushed by Kazakhstan’s Abdullin Ilfat (currently ranked 31) and Bangladesh’s Ruman Shana, the bronze medallist at the worlds in 2019.

The Iranian pair of Mohammadsaleh Palizban and Vida Halimianavval are the highest-ranked compound archers travelling to Thailand, ranked 39th and 41st in the world, respectively. Halimianavval is likely to face a tough challenge from compatriot Geesa Bybordy – while Indian world youth medallist Rishabh Yadav is rumoured to be making strides ahead of the competitive season.

Key information

What’s happening? The first leg of the 2022 Asia Cup on 14-19 March 2022 in Phuket, Thailand.

What’s at stake? World ranking points.

What’s the story? India, Bangladesh and Iran are the presumptive favourites to lead the medal table. Without veteran leadership, could Bangladesh make serious competitive ground over its more-established neighbour? The nation’s talented pool of athletes has progressed year-in, year-out since acquiring top coach Martin Frederick. 

Event schedule

• Tuesday 15 March: Qualifying and Eliminations
• Wednesday 16 March: Qualifying and Eliminations
• Thursday 17 March: Team and Individual Eliminations
• Friday 18 March: Mixed Team Eliminations
• Saturday 19 March: Finals

How to watch

World Archery will stream the individual finals delayed on its YouTube channel at 17h00 CET on Sunday 20 March. Live scores will be available on the World Archery website and there will be coverage on World Archery’s digital platforms throughout the competition.

Who’s competing?

These are the top-ranked archers competing at the Asia Cup:

• Recurve men: Khairul Anuar Mohamad, Malaysia (world rank: 25)
• Recurve women: Farida Tukebayeva, Kazakhstan (world rank: 98)
• Compound men: Mohammadsaleh Palizban, Iran (world rank: 39)
• Compound women: Vida Halimianavval, Iran (world rank: 41)

A total of 104 archers (64 male and 40 female) from the national teams of the following 11 countries are registered to compete at the tournament: Bangladesh, Hong Kong, India, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Philippines, Qatar, Singapore and host nation Thailand.

Competition at the Asia Cup starts with qualification on Monday.