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Sharvari Shende wrapped up India's campaign at the World Archery Youth Championships 2025 by striking gold in the Under-18 women's recurve event in Winnipeg, Canada.
The 16-year-old became just the third Indian world champion in the women's recurve category after Deepika Kumari (2011) and Komalika Bari (2021), according to Olympics.com. The 20th seed after qualification, Sharvari, defied the odds stacked against her and orchestrated higher-ranked opponents en route to a memorable gold medal. She trounced the Republic of Korea's third seed, Kim Yewon, by 7-3 in the semi-finals to earn a shot at the top podium finish. In the gold medal fixture, the game went right down to the wire as both remained inseparable after the scoreline read 5-5. The medal was decided in a shoot-off, and Sharvari held her nerves to return home with a gold with a 10-9 victory. "Am I really the world champion? Oh my God, it was amazing. I'm just thinking that I will shoot my best. One arrow will decide if I'm going to be a world champion or not. My coach was telling me to be confident, believe in yourself, you're going to be the champion," Sharvari said while speaking to World Archery after the final, as quoted from Olympics.com. "I always had a dream to become the world champion, and this is my last year in the cadet, so I feel very proud, I feel I make my India proud," she concluded. Earlier in the tournament, Sharvari played her part in securing a bronze in the U18 women's recurve archery team event. Gatha Khadake and Agastay Singh added another bronze by ousting Chinese Taipei in the U18 mixed recurve category on the final day of the tournament. The two medals on the last day took India's overall medal tally in the competition to eight, comprising four gold, two silver and two bronze. Two years ago, India finished with six medals in the previous edition of the tournament, which was held in Limerick. The next edition of the World Archery Youth Championships will take place in Antalya, Turkey, in 2027. (ANI)
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