World Archery Championship: Indian men’s team surprises Olympic champions South Korea!

April-29, Just a few months before the Paris Olympics, the Indian men’s team comprised of Dheeraj Bomadevara, Tarundeep Rai and Pravin Jadhav won the gold medal at the World Archery Championship. This ended a 14-year title drought in the recurve Archery Championship Stage I in Shanghai.

The historic victory will boost India’s chances of qualifying for the Paris Olympics, with the rankings to be announced after the final Olympic qualifiers for the third round of the World Cup in Antalya, Turkey, in June.

India currently ranks third in the ranking with 231 points, behind China (241 points) and South Korea (340 points).

Olympian Deepika Kumari entered the podium with a silver medal, while recurve mixed team duo Ankita Bhakat and Dheeraj won bronze for India, making them the most medals won in a single World Cup. He finished the World Cup and came back with eight medals with five gold medals, two silver medals, and one bronze medal.
The Indian men’s trio put on a dominant performance against the world No. 1 Korean team, winning 5-1 (57-57, 57-55, 55-53) and clinching the title without losing a set.

Deepika became a mother in December 2022 and subsequently missed the entire 2023 season, but is on her way to making a comeback. She strengthened her skills, defeating two Korean players (Jung Hoon-young 6-4) in the quarterfinals, and debutant Nam Soo-hyun 6-0 in the semifinals, despite having ranked 30th in the preliminaries.