At the Rhine-Ruhr FISU World University Games 2025 , Indian athletes experienced a day filled with intense competition, moments of pride, and inevitable heartbreaks across athletics, tennis, swimming, archery, table tennis, badminton, fencing, taekwondo, basketball, and volleyball.
Among the brightest moments came from tennis, where 20-year-old Vaishnavi Adkar etched her name into history books. Facing Germany’s Sina Herrmann on home soil, Vaishnavi played with remarkable composure, defeating her in straight sets 6-1, 6-4 to secure India’s second-ever medal in tennis at the World University Games, a feat last achieved by Nandan Bal in 1979.
The significance of her victory lay not only in the medal but also in breaking a 46-year drought for Indian tennis at this stage. Vaishnavi’s day grew even sweeter when, alongside Atharva Sharma, she advanced to the mixed doubles quarterfinals with a hard-fought 6-2, 7-5 win over the American pair Olivia and Jerry. Their journey now stands just one win away from confirming another medal, bringing hope for an even more historic campaign.
Chanda & Amandeep Saves the Day for India
In athletics, the day offered a vivid blend of promise and disappointment. KM Chanda and Amandeep Kaur delivered spirited runs in the women’s 800m heats, clocking 2:05.95 and 2:03.89 respectively to qualify for the semifinals, keeping Indian hopes alive. Yet, in the women’s long jump final, Ancy Sojan, who had raised expectations with a strong start of 6.29m in her first attempt, could not improve in subsequent jumps and finished eighth overall. The medal positions soared to 6.67m and beyond, highlighting the steep challenge in the final.
Abhinaya Rajarajan narrowly missed the women’s 100m final, clocking an impressive 11.73s but falling short by just 0.4 seconds a painful miss that underscored the fine margins at this level. On the men’s side, Ruchit Mori, who had thrilled supporters earlier by clocking a personal best of 50.58s to reach the semifinals in the 400m hurdles, could not replicate his form and finished seventh in his heat with 51.04s, missing out on the final.
Arjun Waskale ran the men’s 1500m in 3:47.36s, finishing seventh in his round but unable to qualify further. Meanwhile, in the women’s 400m hurdles, Shreevarathi could not complete her race, adding another layer of disappointment to an otherwise mixed day for Indian track athletes.
The field events offered little solace. Bharatraj Bijuraj fell short in the men’s high jump, clearing 2.03m and finishing 16th overall, missing the top 12 cut for the final. In men’s discus throw, Abhimanyu, who had just scraped into the final with a qualifying throw, failed to register a legal attempt after three fouls, ending his campaign abruptly. Similarly, Gurdev Singh faced a nerve-wracking outing in men’s hammer throw, recording three fouls and finishing without a mark.
Archery Starts & Compound Delivers for India at world university games 2025
Yet, it wasn’t all frustration. Indian archers shone in the ranking rounds, especially in compound events. In the compound men’s section, Kushal Dalal scored a superb 706 to rank second, while Sahil Rajesh (699) and Hritik Sharma (694) ensured the Indian team topped the team standings. The mixed team also finished second. Among the women, Parneet Kaur delivered a commanding 701 to finish first, supported by Madhura D (687) and Avneet Kaur (673), which placed the women’s compound team second overall.
In recurve, India’s day was more challenging. Basanti Mahato, Bhajan Kaur, and Aditi Jaiswal finished 13th, 21st, and 24th respectively in the women’s recurve, placing the team fifth and mixed team ninth. The men’s recurve team, led by Aryan Rana (27th), Vishnu Choudhary (42nd), and Mrinal Chauhan (47th), finished 12th but still progressed to the pre-quarterfinals. The compound performances reinforced India’s growing strength in this discipline, while recurve archers faced a tough day.
In swimming, India’s young contingent delivered spirited performances but fell short of semifinal qualifications. Srihari Nataraj topped his 50m freestyle heat with 23.07s but placed 28th overall, missing out on the next round. In women’s 50m freestyle, Nina Venkatesh and Latiesha Mandanna clocked 27.55s and 28.34s, respectively, falling short of the cutoff. In the 200m backstroke, Nithik Nathella topped his heat with 2:05.34 but ended 25th overall. The women’s 200m butterfly saw Nilabjaa and Jedidah finishing outside qualification positions. In the 4×200m freestyle relay, the men’s team placed seventh in their heat, also missing the final. Despite the outcomes, the swimmers displayed resilience and glimpses of promise against a deep field led by powerhouses like the USA and Japan.
Badminton brought moments of relief and frustration. Rohan Kumar advanced to the men’s singles round of 64 after a close three-game win. Aditi and Devika breezed past a Nepalese pair in women’s doubles, while Sathish and Vaishnavi secured a mixed doubles win against Poland. Viraj and Alisha overcame a Sri Lankan pair in mixed doubles too. But there were narrow defeats: Abhinash and Varshini lost 15-12, 12-15, 15-17 to Australians in mixed doubles, and later, Abhinash and Viraj lost to a Japanese pair in men’s doubles. In a setback, women’s doubles duo Taneesha Kotecha and Sayali Wani had to withdraw from their pre-quarterfinal.
Table tennis, similarly, offered fleeting joy. Suhana Saini clinched a gritty win over Dutch player Dobrila before bowing out in the next round, while Taneesha, Sayali, and Pritha exited early against higher-ranked opponents. The men’s doubles team of Ayaz and Devarsh lost to a French pair, and women’s doubles duo Taneesha and Sayali, after an opening win, lost to France in the pre-quarterfinal.
Elsewhere, fencing and taekwondo proved difficult. The women’s Sabre team lost 31-45 to Spain despite a promising start, while the men’s foil team went down to France. All four Indian taekwondo athletes exited in their first matches, underlining the sport’s steep learning curve at this level. In basketball, the Indian men’s and women’s teams suffered defeats to Germany, and the women’s volleyball team finished 12th after losing to Australia.
The day at world university games ultimately reflected sport’s many shades triumph in tennis, dominance in compound archery, near-misses in athletics, and hard lessons elsewhere. Yet, Indian athletes continue to compete with courage, pushing boundaries and chasing moments that make history possible. As the Games progress, India’s story remains unfinished and the promise of tomorrow keeps hope alive. 🇮🇳✨
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