🏹 World Archery Championship: India's Recurve Medal drought Continues
India Falls Short in Recurve Archery Again
Gatha Khadke, India's last hope in recurve archery, was eliminated in the pre-quarterfinals of the World Archery Championship.
The 15-year-old archer, competing in only her second senior international event, faced world no.1 Lim Si-Hyeon from South Korea.
Lim, a triple Olympic gold medalist in paris 2024, defeated Gatha 6-0 in straight sets, finishing the match quickly and decisively.
Lim started strong with three perfect 10s, winning the first set 30-26. Gatha couldn't recover in the following sets.
📉 No Recurve Medal Since 2019
India’s last medal in recurve archery at the World Championships came in 2019, when the men's team won silver in Den Bosch.
Since then, this marks India’s third consecutive failure to win a medal in the recurve category at the championships.
❌ deepika Kumari, Dheeraj Disappoint
Deepika Kumari, a four-time Olympian and six-time Worlds participant, crashed out in the first round.
She lost to Indonesia's Diananda Choirunisa in five sets, continuing her medal-less streak at the Worlds.
Top indian male recurve archer Dheeraj Bommadevara also fell short.
After finishing 39th in the qualification round, he was eliminated by tokyo Olympic gold medalist Mete Gazoz in his opening match.
🥇 Compound Archery Saves the Day
While recurve archers struggled, India shined in compound events:
Rishabh Yadav, Prathamesh Phuge, and Aman saini won gold in the men’s team event.
Rishabh Yadav and jyothi Surekha Vennam also claimed silver in the mixed team event.
⚠️ Takeaway
India’s recurve archery needs a significant performance boost and youth development, while the compound category remains the country’s strength.
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