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Turkiye head coach Yusuf Goktug Ergin made his mark when he transformed the recurve archery scene in his country to produce Olympic and World Championship medallists.
Ergin, who represented Turkiye at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, shot into the limelight when his ward Mete Gazoz became the first Turkish archer to secure an Olympic medal by winning the men’s individual gold at Tokyo 2020. Gazoz, who became a World champion in 2023, joined hands with Berkim Tumer and Abdullah Yildirmis to claim the men’s team bronze at Paris 2024.
Having tasted success with his training methodology, the 41-year-old recurve coach, who is also the chairman of World Archery’s Coaches Committee, does not mind sharing his knowledge for the benefit of coaches and archers across the globe.
With Indian archery looking to break its Olympics jinx at Los Angeles 2028, the Archery Association of India (AAI) recently invited Ergin to train its coaches at a workshop in Jaipur. Ergin carved out some time for The Hindu to speak about his coaching philosophy and his perspective on Indian archery. Excerpts:
What is your impression of Indian archery and its coaches?
I have been following them for many years, because we are competing against each other in different competitions. They have great ambitions, are always ready to win. They are working so hard, dedicating their lives. In India, what I see is great. There are plenty of coaches ready to share their experience. They are ready to upgrade their knowledge and serve their country.
Why aren’t Indian archers winning medals in the Olympics?
All necessary things are already there. Only, it seems, the pieces have to be managed differently than they have been managed until now. India doesn’t have any missing part to get the medal.
For winning high-level medals, how much of the preparation is mental?
For a high-level medal, one needs 80-85% of mental preparation. I always tell my archers, talent is [the reason why] they are in such a big pool, but when they compete internationally everybody is talented. To overcome the talented people, you should have something different. Everybody can do the physical work, but mental work can make the difference.
Do you advise that training should include both skills and mental training?
Mental training has to be part of your preparation all the time. It shouldn’t be a kind of separated programme. Mental training has to be part of physical and power training, technical and endurance work. When you are working on scores and performance, mental training has to run inside. When you plan your training programme, mental training has to be part of it.
Do you think India needs Korean coaches to win an Olympic medal? What is your experience in Turkiye?
I have the experience of working with Korean, Italian, Georgian and Soviet coaches. Every country has different kinds of dynamics. My philosophy is if India or any other country uses their own resources, if they educate their own coaches, it will be much easier to get success. A foreign coach can do a great job and bring some success, but the important point is legacy. All the coaches are working for themselves. When they leave a country, they should leave something back. Most of the time, the transition doesn’t work. I’m so glad the AAI is now doing a really great job. They are focused on their own coaches, trying to educate them and improve their knowledge. This would have a much bigger effect than bringing a foreign coach to manage the national team.
Do you think India can learn something from Turkiye and implement that here to produce top medallists?
Every country and culture has different kinds of dynamics. I’m here to share what we did in Turkiye. I expect all Indian coaches will get into it and convert it to make it suitable for India. I wouldn’t say I’m here to teach them. I’m here to share. And if they share, this exchange will be beneficial for both of us. India is one of the strongest countries in the world. They have every medal, except for the Olympics. It was a missing part for us too before Tokyo. After we got our first gold in Tokyo, it has become much easier for us.
Fine margins: Ergin says nobody would have been surprised had Ankita Bhakat and B. Dhiraj won gold at Paris 2024. Eventually losing bronze, he says, was just down to ‘timing and dynamics of the day’.
| Photo Credit:
Ritu Raj Konwar
India’s compound archers are winning medals consistently at the top level. The junior archers are also doing well. Do you have any ideas why the senior recurve archers are lagging a bit?
Of course, I have some ideas, but I respect my colleagues. My coach friends are working really hard. They should have some solutions. I try to share my knowledge and experience. They will understand and realise what needs to be improved and what can be done better. I don’t want to specify anything because I’m following them from thousands of kilometres away. I see them in competitions and don’t know what’s going on in the training exactly. What I see in the competition, it’s not that bad.
India (Ankita Bhakat and B. Dhiraj) finished fourth in the mixed team event at the Paris Olympics. Where do you think they could have done better in that bronze medal match?
In that match, there were a lot of breaking points. But in the dynamics of the day, it was different. It was a bit about the opponents too. They were so close to getting into the final [they led 2-0 after the first set of the semifinal against the eventual gold medallist Korean pair of Lim Sihyeon and Kim Woojin]. It would have been a surprise for none of us if India [had] won the gold. It’s not a surprise they finished fourth. All the teams were so strong. There were at least three breaking points during the [bronze medal] match [against USA’s Casey Kaufhold and Brady Ellison]. But none of them were related to the coaches or the archers. It’s just timing and the dynamics of the day.
What is your impression of the inaugural Archery Premier League in India?
I love the system and the type of competition. It brings a kind of excitement into archery. Finally, someone has looked out of the box. The matches were so exciting and were of high level. Because of the type of the competition and the time limit, coaches were not able to guide as much as we expected. The rest of the format is great. I believe it will continue and some other countries will follow it.
Any Indian archers who remind you of your ward Mete Gazoz, a World and Olympic champion?
There are a couple of archers. Atanu Das is doing a great job. He always looks so close to winning. In any competition, he looks so calm and strong. The [other] name is B. Dhiraj. He is also so calm. I would say Atanu would be one of the biggest favourites for winning any medal.
Published – March 21, 2026 01:00 am IST
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Yusuf Ergin Interview: Why India can win Olympic archery medal and what’s missing
