Picture Credit: Twitter
Parth Salunkhe, a young archer, made history at the Youth World Championships by being the first Indian to take home a gold medal in the recurve category. On July 10, 2023, the teenager from Satara, Maharashtra, defeated Song Injun of Korea in a riveting final in Limerick, Ireland.
Salunkhe, who started his archery career at the age of 12, was initially coached by his father Sushant via YouTube videos. He later trained at the SAI centre in Sonipat. He also represented Maharashtra at the national level and won the senior national title in 2021.
Salunkhe was down 1-3 after Injun's first six arrows, which included two flawless 10s and three 9s. When it appeared like Korea would once again dominate India, the previous senior national champion Salunkhe fought back and won the third set by two points. To tie the match at three, he drilled an arrow that was closer to the centre (X). Salunkhe went on to hit two 10s and one 9 to grab a 5-3 lead before putting the game away with two 10s, putting a lot of pressure on Injun.
India finished with six gold, one silver and four bronze medals, which was highest in the standings in terms of total number of medals. But in terms of rankings, they finished second behind Korea who took the pole position with six gold and four silver medals. Parth also helped India win a bronze medal in the mixed team event along with Riddhi.
Here is all you need to know about Parth Salunkhe:
Age: 19 years
Hails from: Satara, Maharashtra
Role: Recurve Men’s category.
Current World ranking: 37
Achievements: Bronze and gold medal at World Championships
