Youth Asian Archery Championship: Maharashtra Shines with Nine Medals, Including Three from Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad

Pune, 7th October 2024: India secured an impressive 19 medals, including seven gold, nine silver, and three bronze, at the recently concluded Youth Asian Archery Championship in Taiwan. Out of these, nine medals were won by archers from Maharashtra, with Pune’s Ryan Siddiqui claiming a gold and Vaishnavi Pawar securing a silver. Host nation Taiwan topped the medals tally with 21, while a strong Korean team finished third with seven medals.

The tournament took place in Taiwan from 27th September to 3rd October. The contingent from Maharashtra, featuring archers such as Vaishnavi Pawar, Dnyaneshwari Gadade, Ryan Siddiqui, Aditi Swamy, Sharwari Shende, Aditya Gadade, Tejal Salve, and Manav Jadhav, contributed significantly with nine medals in both recurve and compound events.

Notable performances included Dnyaneshwari Gadade, who earned an individual silver and a team gold in the under-21 category. Her brother, Aditya Gadade, also clinched a team gold in the same age group. World champion Aditi Swamy, despite finishing fourth individually, teamed up with Dnyaneshwari and Avneet Kaur to win a team gold.

The Maharashtra archers hailed from various regions, including seven from Pune, two from Satara, two from Solapur, and two from Buldhana. Pune’s archers played a pivotal role, with many of them training locally. Ryan Siddiqui, Vaishnavi Pawar, and Sharwari Shende, all from Pune and Pimpri, were standout performers.

Ryan Siddiqui’s team took home the gold in the under-21 category, while Vaishnavi’s team won silver. In a thrilling semi-final, the Indian girls defeated South Korea to reach the final, where they narrowly lost the gold to host Taiwan in a shoot-off.