Shanghai, May 9: Sahil Jadhav clinched a bronze medal in the men’s individual compound event at the 2026 Archery World Cup Stage 2 on Saturday. This achievement marks his first World Cup medal.
The 25-year-old athlete defeated Denmark’s Martin Damsbo with a score of 147-144 in the bronze medal match. After losing the first set 30-29, Sahil made a remarkable comeback by winning the next four sets, securing his place on the podium. Earlier, the eighth-seeded Indian triumphed over 2021 World Champion Nico Wiener of Austria in the quarter-finals, winning by a narrow margin in a shoot-off with a score of 147. His journey ended in the semi-finals, where he was narrowly defeated by France’s reigning champion Nicolas Girard, who won 147-145, allowing Sahil to compete for the bronze.
During this campaign, Sahil overcame experienced Indian player Abhishek Verma in the third round and edged past Germany’s Ruven Fluss 149-146 in the round of 16. His bronze medal at this year’s Shanghai World Cup is India’s only medal in the compound events. Last year, India secured five medals in this category. Meanwhile, Kushal Dalal’s journey ended in the quarter-finals, and former World Champion Ojas Devtale was eliminated in the round of 16. The men’s compound team, which won gold in Shanghai last year, could only reach the quarter-finals this time.
In the women’s compound team event, India faced a quarter-final defeat against Turkey, losing 233-227. Defending champion Madhura Dhamangaonkar was eliminated in the round of 32 by the USA’s top seed Alexis Ruiz. Former World Champion Aditi Swami was the standout performer for India in the women’s individual compound event but lost in the quarter-finals shoot-off to Estonia’s Lisell Jaatma. Jaatma had previously defeated India’s leading compound archer Jyoti Surekha Vennam in the round of 16 with a score of 148-147.
In the mixed compound team event, set to debut at the LA 2028 Olympics, Aditi Swami and Ojas Devtale lost in the quarter-finals to the American duo of Alexis Ruiz and James Lutz. On Sunday, India still has opportunities to win medals in recurve events. Simranjeet Kaur has reached the women’s individual semi-finals, and the Indian women’s recurve team will compete against China for the gold medal.
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