Asian and University Games postponed to 2023

The upcoming Asian Games and University Games, which are both due to take place in China, have been postponed from 2022.

Archery is included on the programme of both multisport events.

The Asian Games and Asian Para Games, which were planned to take place in Hangzhou, is second only to the Olympics in size and status within the continent. It is scheduled to include a full 10-medal archery programme – both recurve and compound – for the first time.

No new date has been set but it is expected to be rescheduled for mid-to-late 2023.

The event is a direct qualifier for the archery competitions at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and the postponement should not have an impact.

In fact, the delay theoretically makes things slightly easier, given that places won at the Asian Games if they were held this year would not become official until after the 2023 Hyundai World Archery Championships.

There will also be an impact on Asian nations, and the archers who will potentially attend the Games. Many countries will restart their international selection processes in 2023.

The University Games in Chengdu had already been postponed from 2021 to 2022. They will now fill the 2023 slot, replacing Yekaterinburg, which recently had its event removed.

It will mean the normally biennial university event will not have been held for four years, since 2019 in Naples, Italy.

Next year’s international archery calendar is starting to look exceptionally busy, with four stages of the Hyundai Archery World Cup, the Hyundai Archery World Cup Final, the Hyundai World Archery Championships, University Games and continental Games in all five continents among the events on the schedule.