Bangkok stage of the Asia Cup to Include its Largest Compound Event to Date

The second stage of the 2015 Asia Cup – which has assimilated some of the Asian Grand Prix – runs in Bangkok from 16 to 22 March. It will be the biggest edition of the event to date, with entries totalling nearly 300 competitors and 100 officials.

The reason behind the increase in participation is clear: compound archery.

Since it was announced that the compound bow would be included in the Asian Games at the end of last year, countries across the continent invested more time and money in elite compound athletes. Korea, known for its dominance on the Olympic circuit in recurve competition, launched a national compound team. Previous recurve internationals like Choi Bomin, a world team champion in the past, joined the new squad – and, for Bomin at least, the switch paid off. She won individual gold and became Asian Games Champion in Incheon.

Nearly as many compound men as recurve men will shoot in Bangkok: 74, compared to 87.

Bangkok has traditionally been used as a testing ground for new rules as one of the first World Ranking Events on the calendar. Last year, it was the first chance to see the current mixed team rules in action. (Compound straight scoring and recurve best of four four-arrow sets, with the first team to reach five set points winning the match – similar to the individual event, where archers shoot three-arrow sets and require six set points to advance.)

The mixed team event is heavily featured in Bangkok’s schedule, with as many as 22 recurve doubles set to compete this year.