As the global spotlight shifts to Winnipeg, Canada, from August 17–24, 2025, India’s next generation of archers is gearing up for one of the most important stages in their careers: the World Archery Youth Championships 2025 (WAYC).
With over 600 athletes from 60 countries expected to participate, this premier youth event is both a proving ground and a launchpad for future Olympic and World Championship contenders. India enters the 19th edition of the tournament with a balanced, battle-tested squad that blends proven international achievers with rising stars. Central to the team’s strength is the presence of World Champion Parneet Kaur and Olympian Bhajan Kaur, who lend credibility, experience, and mentorship to a group otherwise dominated by teenage hopefuls.
The WAYC is more than just another international outing it is where future Olympic champions are born. For India, which has made rapid strides in archery over the last decade, this event represents an opportunity to consolidate its reputation as a global powerhouse in youth archery.
India’s past performances underscore this potential. At Wroclaw 2021, Indian archers recorded their best-ever haul 15 medals including 8 golds, setting two youth world records. In Limerick 2023, India topped the medal table with three individual world titles, including Parth Salunkhe (U21 recurve) and Aditi Gopichand Swami (U18 compound). Winnipeg 2025, therefore, is not just about medals. It is about building a pipeline of talent capable of sustaining India’s medal ambitions at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics, where compound archery will make its debut.
India’s Squad: A Carefully Selected Unit
The Indian team was chosen after rigorous three-day trials at the Army Sports Institute (ASI) in Pune, which employed a transparent, merit-based system involving round-robin contests, points allocation, and even single-arrow shoot-offs to resolve ties. The result: a 22-member squad across recurve and compound disciplines, in both junior (U21) and cadet (U18) categories.
Recurve Archers
- Junior Men (U21): Paras Hooda, Juyel Sarkar, Mahesh Kumawat
- Junior Women (U21): Bhajan Kaur, Vaishnavi Pawar, Basanti Mahato
- Cadet Men (U18): Soham Kanase, Aditya Pawar, Agastay Singh
- Cadet Women (U18): Gatha Khadake, Sharvari Shende, Jiana Kumar
Compound Archers
- Junior Men (U21): Kushal Dalal, Thirumuru Gamesh Mani Ratnam, Mihir Apar
- Junior Women (U21): Parneet Kaur, Tejal Salve, Taniparthi Chikitha
- Cadet Men (U18): Devansh Singh, Yogesh Joshi, Mohit Dagar
- Cadet Women (U18): Madala Surya Hamsini, Prithika Pradeep, Varenya Rana
Notably, several cadet-level athletes have already earned senior team call-ups. For example, Gatha Khadake (15) and Sharvari Shende (16) broke into senior recurve trials, while Prithika Pradeep and Taniparthi Chikitha are being groomed for senior compound slots. This overlap between youth and senior squads signals a deep internal competition pool, ensuring that age is no barrier to advancement.
Parneet & Bhajan: Guiding Lights
Parneet Kaur : The Compound Specialist
At 20, Parneet Kaur is already a household name in world archery. Ranked 14th in the world, she is a World Champion (compound women’s team), Asian Games gold medallist, and Asian Championships individual champion. Her recent triumph at the 2025 FISU World University Games, where she partnered Kushal Dalal for India’s first-ever gold in compound mixed team, underlines her ability to deliver on big stages. By featuring in a youth squad despite her senior pedigree, Parneet will not only contest for medals but also mentor her younger teammates.
Bhajan Kaur : The Olympian
From Haryana, Bhajan Kaur is another anchor in the youth side. Having represented India at the Paris 2024 Olympics, she carries the rare experience of having shot under Olympic pressure. She was also part of the Indian team that won bronze at the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games. Her youth record is equally impressive bronze at the 2023 Youth World Championships in recurve individual (U21) and multiple podiums on the Archery World Cup circuit. Ranked 57th globally, Bhajan will lead India’s recurve challenge in Winnipeg.
Together, Parneet and Bhajan represent experience meeting youth, an invaluable mix that could prove decisive in tight elimination matches.
India’s rise in archery has not been accidental it is the outcome of a multi-layered ecosystem:
- Archery Association of India (AAI): Governs the sport, ensures adherence to World Archery standards, and organizes national championships across age groups.
- Army Sports Institute (ASI): Hosts national trials, providing a centralized, merit-based selection system. Its Pune base has become the “nursery” of Indian elite archers.
- Sports Authority of India (SAI): Runs National Centres of Excellence (NCOEs) in cities like Aurangabad, Kolkata, and Imphal, offering advanced sports science support.
- Grassroots Academies: Youth Archery Academy in Kanpur, for example, trains underprivileged children free of cost and was named India’s top academy in 2024.
This ecosystem has ensured wider reach with rural and urban athletes alike entering the pipeline and scientific training, with emphasis on biomechanics, psychology, and fitness.
Recent Track Record: Confidence Builders
- Wroclaw 2021: 15 medals, including 8 golds, India’s best-ever haul at a Youth World Championship.
- Limerick 2023: Most medals overall, including three individual world champions (Parth Salunkhe, Priyansh, Aditi Swami).
- FISU 2025: Gold for Parneet Kaur and Kushal Dalal in mixed compound team, showing continuity from youth to senior level.
These performances prove India is not just competing but consistently dominating youth-level archery.
India’s young archers will face elite opposition in Winnipeg from traditional powers like South Korea, USA, Mexico, and Italy, alongside emerging Asian rivals like Kazakhstan and Chinese Taipei. The championship structure with qualification rounds, elimination matches, and high-pressure finals at The Forks in downtown Winnipeg demands consistency, accuracy, and mental toughness.
For the Indians, the focus will be twofold:
- Deliver medals across both recurve and compound, consolidating India’s position as a youth powerhouse.
- Gain big-stage experience that can be carried into Olympic cycles, especially with LA28 in sight for compound archery.
The 2025 World Archery Youth Championships will be remembered as a crucial chapter in India’s long-term archery story. With the likes of Parneet Kaur and Bhajan Kaur anchoring the squad, and a new wave of cadets such as Gatha Khadake, Sharvari Shende, and Prithika Pradeep pushing into senior contention, India is fielding a team rich in both quality and promise. As Winnipeg prepares to host the world’s best young archers, India’s contingent arrives not as outsiders but as genuine medal contenders. Whether in team events, mixed formats, or individual duels, the tricolor has every chance of being raised on the podium.
More than the medals, however, Winnipeg offers something even more valuable: a chance for India’s next generation to believe they belong among the best, to sharpen their skills under global scrutiny, and to carry forward the legacy of Indian archery into the Olympic future.
