New Delhi [India], September 12 : Indian men's compound team member Rishabh Yadav expressed his feelings after the Indian men's compound team of Rishabh Yadav, Aman Saini, and Prathamesh Fuge bagged a gold medal at the World Archery Championships 2025 in Gwangju on Sunday.
India secured their first-ever gold medal in the men's compound archery team event, while Rishabh Yadav and Jyothi Surekha Vennam won silver in the compound mixed team event, which will make its Olympic debut at Los Angeles 2028, according to Olympics.com.
Speaking to ANI, Rishabh Yadav said, "We recently had an Archery World Championship in Gwangju, South Korea. In that, for the first time, India won a gold medal in the compound men's team, and this is a historic win. India had never won such a medal before. In the mixed team, we won a silver medal. This silver medal in the mixed team is special because the compound event has just been added to the Olympics... There is a very good support from the government, the Sports Authority of India and everyone, including the Archery Association of India. We players will strengthen ourselves further, and our PM's dream of coming in the top ten in the Olympics this time will be fulfilled..."
Expressing happiness, the Indian men's compound team's Aman Saini said, "This is the first for India in this category, so I am feeling very happy after winning this medal. After winning this medal, I am feeling motivated and positive."
The second-seeded Indian men's team showed remarkable grit to overturn a first-set deficit of 59-57 and beat the fifth-seeded French team of Nicolas Girard, Jean Philippe Boulch and Francois Dubois 235-233 in the final.
The victory capped a remarkable run in which the Indian men's team came from behind in all four archery matches.
After a first-round bye, they edged past Australia in a shoot-off 232(30)-232(28), beat the USA 234-233 in the quarter-finals, and then overcame third seeds Turkiye 234-232 in the semi-finals. Top seeds South Korea, meanwhile, were stunned by Slovenia in the last eight.
Rishabh Yadav, making his World Championships debut at just 23, was India's standout performer in qualification, finishing eighth with 709 points and carried that form into the mixed event.
In the mixed team event, Rishabh partnered with Jyothi, India's top-ranked compound woman archer and the No. 3 qualifier. Rishabh powered India to wins over Germany (160-152), El Salvador (157-153) and Chinese Taipei (157-155) to reach the gold medal match.
In the final against the Netherlands, India made a strong start, leading 39-38 after the first set, but eventually went down 157-155 and settled for silver.
For Jyothi, 29, it was a second mixed team silver at the Worlds, after her podium finish with Abhishek Verma at Yankton 2021.
However, her campaign ended early in the women's team event. The third-seeded trio of Jyothi, Parneet Kaur and Prithika Pradeep suffered a 229-233 defeat to 14th-seeded Italy in the pre-quarterfinals, ending hopes of defending their crown from Berlin 2023.
As many as 500 archers from 74 countries and territories are vying for the tag of world champions in Gwangju. The archery competition will conclude on September 11.
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