Sahil Jadhav Secures Bronze at Archery World Cup 2026 in Shanghai
Sahil Jadhav's Historic Win
Shanghai [China], May 9: Indian archer Sahil Jadhav achieved a remarkable feat by winning the bronze medal in the men's individual compound category at the Archery World Cup 2026 Stage 2 held in Shanghai on Saturday.
The 25-year-old athlete triumphed over Denmark's Martin Damsbo with a score of 147-144 in the playoff for bronze, marking his first medal at the Archery World Cup. After trailing 30-29 in the initial round, Jadhav made a strong comeback, securing victory over the subsequent four rounds.
In the quarter-finals, Jadhav, seeded eighth, faced off against Austria's Nico Wiener, the reigning world champion from 2021. The match ended in a shoot-off after both archers scored 147, with Jadhav emerging victorious.
However, he faced a setback in the semi-finals, where he lost narrowly to France's current world champion Nicolas Girard with a score of 147-145, which led him to compete for the bronze medal.
Jadhav's bronze was India's only podium finish in the compound events at this stage of the Archery World Cup 2026 in Shanghai. Last year, India had a stellar performance at the same venue, securing five medals in compound archery.
In other results, Kushal Dalal's journey ended in the quarter-finals, while former world champion Ojas Deotale was eliminated in the round of 16.
The Indian women's team in the compound event also concluded their campaign in the quarter-finals, losing 233-227 to Turkiye. Madhura Dhamangaonkar, who had previously won gold in Shanghai last year, was defeated by Alexis Ruiz with a score of 148-144 in the round of 32. Aditi Swami was the highest-performing Indian in the women's individual category but fell short in the quarter-finals against Lisell Jaatma.
Earlier, Jaatma had eliminated India's top-ranked archer Jyothi Surekha Vennam with a close 148-147 victory in the round of 16.
In the mixed compound team event, which will debut at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics, India's Aditi Swami and Ojas Deotale were knocked out in the quarter-finals by the American pair of Alexis Ruiz and James Lutz.
Despite these challenges, India is still in the running for medals in the recurve events on Sunday, with Simranjeet Kaur advancing to the women's individual semi-finals, and the Indian women's recurve team set to compete against China for the gold medal.