India, April 9 -- 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...