WUG2025: Unfancied Sahil Jadhav emerges World University Games champion

Sahil Rajesh Jadhav pulled the rug from under British World No. 24 Ajay Scott’s feet on Saturday with a sensational 149-148 victory in the men’s Compound individual archery final at the FISU World University Games 2025 against the backdrop of the iconic Zollverein Coal Mine, a UNESCO Heritage site. 

A Natural Sciences student of the Karmaveer Bhaurao Patil in Satara, the 24-year-old Sahil Jadhav, unranked on the World Archery website, shot with fierce determination and sharp focus, dropping a point in the final only with his last shot. Ajay Scott, who found the inner 10 as many as 10 times, dropped a point each in the first and last ends to settle for silver.

The only time Sahil Rajesh Jadhav appeared to react adversely to pressure was when he shot his last arrow outside the two inner circles and allowed the semifinal against World No. 28 Kushal Dalal to spill into a shoot off. He held his nerve and sent the arrow 14mm away from the centre of the target while Kushal Dalal’s arrow ended up 34.5mm away from the centre.

Parneet Kaur gained the upper hand in the women’s final with two perfect ends at the start of the match even as Moon Yeeun dropped a point in each end. But the Indian’s concentration wavered just that but after she shot a 9 with the second arrow in the third end. That overlapped into her next arrow which also fetched a 9.

The title clash boiled down to a six-arrow contest as the archers were tied 88-88. Both of Parneet Kaur’s third arrows in the last two ends found 9s while the Korean had just one 9. There was a sliver of hope for Parneet Kaur as it appeared Moon Yeeun’s penultimate shot was also a 9 but the judge verified it as a 10 to make the Korean winner by a single point.

Kushal Dalal finished outside the podium in the men’s competition. He lost the semifinal to his team-mate Sahil Jadhav by the narrowest of margins in a single-arrow shoot-off, raising his game to find nine successive 10s to tie the scores 148-148. Then, he lost the bronze medal play-off to Poland’s Przemyslaw Konecki who shot an incredible 15 10s.

The Indian archery team ended its campaign with two gold, two silver and one bronze medal. India’s two other bronze medals came from the Mixed Team event in Badminton and Vaishnavi Adkar in the women’s singles Tennis. The second gold medal lifted India to the 15th spot in the medals table.

India will be hoping that it would win its first athletics medal in Rhine-Ruhr 2025 on Saturday night through Praveen Chithravel in men’s Triple Jump. Seema (women’s 5000m) and Karishma Sudarshan Sanil (women’s Javelin Throw) will have to find something extra to make it to the podium in the face of tough competition in their respective competitions.

The results (Indians only)

Archery

Men’s Compound Individual Final: Sahil Rajesh Jadhav beat Ajay Scott (Britain) 149-148’ Bronze medal play-off: Kushal Dalal lost to Przemyslaw Konecki (Poland) 148-150; Semifinals: Sahil Rajesh Jadhav beat Kushal Dalal 148-148 (10-10, closer to centre).

Women’s Compound Individual Final: Parneet Kaur lost to Moon Yeeun (South Korea) 146-147. Semifinals: Parneet Kaur beat Kim Sooyeon (South Korea) 145-144.

Athletics

Men

5000m Final: 16. Kiran Pandurang Matre 15:16.57.
4x400m Relay Heats: 2. India (TK Vishal, Lakshmanan Ashwin Krishnan, Jerome Jeyaseelan, Balakrishna) 3:06.56
Half Marathon: 6. Mohit 1:04:08; 22. Mohit Choudhary 1:06:51; 26. Arun Dhansingh Rathod 1:07:19; 34. Shubham Baliyan 1:08:32; 36. Ankit Deshwal 1:09:07; Half Marathon Team: 5. India.

Women

4x400m Relay Heats: 2. India (Anakha Anila, Devyaniba Zala, Rashdeep Kaur, Ruphal Kaur) 3:35.12.
Triple Jump: 16. Poorva Sawant 12.82; Sandra Babu 11.98.
Hammer Throw: 17. Tanya Chaudhary 61.97m; 22. Harshita Sehrawat 57.46. 
Half Marathon: 21. Jyoti 1:21:22; 22. Aarti Arjun Pawara 1:22:50; 24. Rinkee Pawara 1:25:33; 25. Basanti Kumari 1:26:16; 26. Svati Pal 1:37:13. Half Marathon Team: 4. India.

Basketball

Men’s 15-16 placing: India 66 (Lokesh Kumar Sharma 17, Mohammad Ishaan 15, Anshuman Shekhawat 13, Nathan Abraham Billa 11) lost to Chile 78 (Juan Pablo Alvarado 16, Carlos Villagran 13, Sebastian Pereira 12). Quarters: 21-18, 10-15, 18-19, 17-26.

Judo

Mixed team First round: India lost to United States of America 3-4 (Muskan Rathi beat Sara Rachel Beberian by Waza-ari, 2:49; Harsh Sharma lost to Andrew Rafael Williams by Ippon, 1:14; Shraddha Kadubal Chopde beat Rebeca Vi Hoang by Ippon, 2:22; Mayank Kadian lost to Aaron Alexander Jen by Waza-ari, 2:09; Taibanganbi Chanu Khaidem beat Nancy Nguyen by Waza-ari, 0:55; Sheetal Singh Ningthoujam lost to Johan Silot by Ippon, 1:48; Mayank Kadian lost to Aaron Alexander Jen by Ippon 0:00).

Rowing

Men’s Single Scull Final E: 3. Pratik Gupta 7:40.91 (finished 27th overall).