Historic gold for India's men's compound archery team at World Championships

India created history on Sunday by winning their maiden gold medal in the men’s compound team event at the World Archery Championships, overcoming France 235-233 in a tense final. The victory marked a high point for Indian archery even as the women’s team missed the podium for the first time in eight years.

The men’s trio of Rishabh Yadav, Aman Saini and Prathamesh Fuge showed grit under pressure after trailing 57-59 in the opening end. They bounced back with six perfect 10s in the second to level the match at 117-all. With the scores tied 176-176 after three ends, India held firm in the decider. France faltered with two 9s, while Fuge, India’s lowest-ranked qualifier, sealed the historic gold with a flawless 10 on the final arrow.

“It’s not just Fuge, each member of the trio showed character and complemented each other without succumbing to pressure,” said India’s chief compound coach Jiwanjot Singh Teja, as quoted by PTI.

The coach revealed that a tactical change during their opening clash against Australia — swapping the shooting order to let Yadav start, Saini go second, and Fuge anchor — proved decisive. From there, the team knocked out heavyweights USA and Turkey en route to the final.

For 23-year-old Rishabh Yadav, the gold capped a remarkable campaign. Earlier in the day, he paired with veteran Jyothi Surekha Vennam to claim silver in the mixed team event, losing narrowly 155-157 to world number one Mike Schloesser and Sanne de Laat of the Netherlands.

Yadav, mentored early in his career by senior archer Abhishek Verma, has been one of India’s rising stars. After winning his first World Cup medal earlier this year in Shanghai, he now has two World Championship medals in a single edition and is eyeing more in the individual category.

There was disappointment, however, for the women’s compound team, which bowed out in the pre-quarterfinals with a 229-233 loss to Italy, ending a streak of four successive podium finishes since 2017.

Despite that setback, India’s haul of a historic gold and a silver on the opening weekend in Gwangju, Korea, signals the nation’s growing strength in compound archery ahead of future global challenges.