Mumbai: Had archer Prathamesh Jawkar maintained status quo, he could have made a strong case to be among the Indian pack at the Archery World Cup Stage 1 this week in Florida. Instead, he’s checked into the Army Sports Institute in Pune, having uprooted his established archery career to plunge into new territory.
Jawkar, part of India’s victorious men’s team at the Asian Games in 2023, has switched from compound – it is not an Olympic event – to recurve. Shifting weight divisions in sports like wrestling and boxing can be daunting. This archer has switched styles that are poles apart with peculiar equipment, skill and difficulty level.
As the 21-year-old from Maharashtra put it: “Compound archery is like dealing with a machine; in recurve you need to become a machine.”
He was going smoothly in dealing with the machine. Jawkar had a stellar 2023 in which he won the Shanghai World Cup individual gold stunning world No.1 “Mister Perfect” Mike Schloesser (he beat him again later that year), the World Cup Final silver and Asian Games team gold. The Asia Cup gold got added last year, yet a significant hole remained.
Jawkar’s idol is Michael Phelps — regarded as the greatest Olympian — and all through his archery career he carried a dream: becoming an Olympian. With compound archery overlooked even for the 2028 LA Games, Jawkar got more restless. Watching his recurve compatriots at last year’s Paris Games as a spectator got him more determined.
“Earlier, I would often joke about making the switch. But when I watched the Olympics final in Paris, I told myself, “I want to do this once”,” Jawkar said.
It wasn’t an easy decision, for Jawkar had achieved a certain stature in compound and enjoyed financial support. “I was winning medals consistently in compound and had sponsors and scholarships. Now I’ll have to fund myself till I reach some level in recurve,” he said. “But I want to go to the Olympics so badly that I was ready to give up anything.”
And so, last September, with LA 2028 in mind, Jawkar mentally erased his compound deeds and took a recurve clean sheet. Having never tried archery’s traditional form, he had to “start from scratch” with coach Samir Maske on a private ground in Pune.
He began by watching recurve events on TV and by pulling with resistance bands to add strength to his arm. His body so attuned to compound that the shift came as a shock initially.
“I started slow because I didn’t want to get injured,” he said. “I have no time to waste.”
Two months on, Jawkar flew to South Korea to spend a couple of weeks at the famed archery school of coach Kim Hyung-tak to build a proper base. “Learning recurve is a lot harder, and more physically demanding,” he said.
Compound equipment has pulleys, cables, a magnifying lens and release switch. Recurve has none. Compound has the target 50m away. Recurve has it 20m farther. Compound tests accuracy. Recurve tests technique and strength.
The biggest difference for Jawkar was in strength. A compound bow’s pulley system allows for a let-off that reduces the holding weight at full draw.
“It’s a lot harder and takes more strength to hold the bow in recurve,” he said. “If I want to compete at a high level in recurve, I must get used to shooting a bow with 50-55 pounds of draw weight. Because I had compound experience, I started with 38 pounds. I’ve now reached 47, and will take it up further.
“My muscles would pain a lot initially, and they still do. My fingers still hurt.”
Jawkar felt more at home in his fresh path as he cranked up the training intensity and hours. “I’m shooting okay now. The progress timeframe is quite good.”
It helps that he has been speaking to some of his recurve colleagues, notably Dhiraj Bommadevara, who was fourth in the mixed event in Paris and also trains at ASI Pune.
“I’m learning a lot from him,” Jawkar said. “Luckily, everyone is positive towards this move. They’re saying I’ll be able to do it because my body structure and mentality is good. Having them helps me adapt to the new world.”
In this new world the Asian Games gold medallist will have to begin “from zero”, going through competitions at the district, state and national level in recurve. He aims to do it this year and get into the Indian recurve setup in 2026. “I want to start competing in international events early next year.”
That will be just over two years for the 2028 Olympics. Is LA, therefore, a realistic target? “I need to make my own realities,” Jawkar said. “It’s very realistic in my head.”
