Picture Credit: X
The World Archery Youth Championships, a biennial event since 1991, is a premier platform showcasing the world’s finest young archers. This year’s edition in Winnipeg saw 570 athletes from 63 countries compete, with India fielding a strong 24-member squad. Indian archers are not only showing their prowess in the team events but in the individual events as well. Earlier in the tournament, Sharvari Shende, Gatha Khadkar and Jiyana Kumar won a bronze medal in the Under-18 recurve team event, registering a resounding victory against United States of America to secure the podium finish.
Carrying on her form from the team event, 16-year-old Sharvari Shende etched her name into the annals of Indian archery history by winning the U18 women’s individual recurve gold medal at the 2025 World Youth Archery Championships, on Sunday, August 24, 2025. Her thrilling 6-5 victory over South Korea’s Kim Yewon in a nail-biting final capped a stellar campaign, marking a significant milestone for Indian archery on the global stage. In the match, Sharvari started strongly, winning two of the first three sets and drew the other, establishing a 4-1 lead. However, Kim clinched the next two sets, leveling the score at 5-5 and forcing the match into a single-arrow shoot-off. In the final shoot-off, Sharvari emerged victorious.
Sharvari Shende became third Indian woman to win U18 recurve World Champion title
Sharvari Shende’s gold medal is particularly significant as she has become only the third Indian woman to claim the U18 recurve world champion title, following Deepika Kumari (2011) and Komalika Bari (2021). Her campaign in the individual elimination rounds began with a bye in the round of 1/24, followed by a dominant 6-0 victory over Qatar’s Reem Khalid Y H Al-Saei. She continued her strong form, defeating Ukraine’s Yelyzaveta Semenova 6-4 in the round of 1/16, and then outclassed Indonesia’s Najwa Shafira Nurin and USA’s Ye-eun Whang, both by 7-3, in the pre-quarterfinals and quarterfinals, respectively. In the semifinal, a 7-3 victory, secured her spot in the final.
In the team event, where the U-18 archers secured bronze medal; the team’s journey included a bye in the opening round, a 6-0 win over Mexico, a 5-3 victory against Japan, and a narrow 6-2 loss to South Korea in the semifinals, before the 6-0 victory against USA. India’s overall performance at the 2025 Championships was exceptional, with the country finishing with four gold, two silver, and two bronze medals. Another standout in the tournament was Chikitha Taniparthi, who became the first Indian woman to win the U21 women’s compound individual title, defeating Korea’s Park Yerin 142-136.
