Archery World Cup: Sahil Jadhav clinches bronze for India's only compound medal

The 25-year-old Indian archer defeated Denmark's Martin Damsbo 147-144 in the bronze-medal playoff to claim his maiden Archery World Cup medal. Trailing 30-29 after the opening end, Jadhav staged a steady comeback over the next four ends to seal an impressive victory.

Earlier in the quarter-finals, the eighth-seeded Indian edged Austria's Nico Wiener, the 2021 world champion, in a shoot-off after both archers were tied at 147, as per the Olympics.com.

However, Jadhav suffered a narrow 147-145 defeat to France's reigning world champion Nicolas Girard in the semi-finals, which relegated him to the bronze-medal playoff.

Jadhav's bronze medal was India's lone podium finish in the compound events at the Archery World Cup 2026 Stage 2 in Shanghai. India had enjoyed a dominant outing at the same venue last year, returning with five medals in compound archery.

Kushal Dalal's campaign ended in the quarter-finals while former world champion Ojas Deotale lost in the round of 16.

India's campaign in the women's team compound event ended in the quarter-finals after a 233-227 defeat to Turkiye at the Archery World Cup 2026 Stage 2.

Madhura Dhamangaonkar, who won the gold medal in Shanghai last year, lost to Alexis Ruiz 148-144 in the round of 32. Aditi Swami was the top-performing Indian archer in the women's individual category but lost in the quarter-final to Lisell Jaatma.

Earlier, Lisell Jaatma had knocked out India's top-ranked archer Jyothi Surekha Vennam with a narrow 148-147 win in the round of 16.

In the mixed compound team event, which is set to make its Olympic debut at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics, India's Aditi Swami and Ojas Deotale bowed out in the quarter-finals after losing to the American duo of Alexis Ruiz and James Lutz.

India, however, remains in contention for medals in the recurve events on Sunday, with Simranjeet Kaur advancing to the women's individual semi-finals, while the Indian women's recurve team will take on China in the gold-medal clash. (ANI)