India has got another gold in the archery event of Asian Games 2026. On the morning of September 30, the women’s team had targeted gold, while India also got the gold medal in the mixed team event. Chikita Taniparthy, who showed strong performance in the women’s team, took part in the mixed team, where she was supported by Sahil Rajesh Jadhav. Together they created a stir and won the gold medal for the country. This pair has also got the ticket for the Olympics. Chikita and Sahil won the closely fought shoot-off against South Korea and secured India’s place for the LA Olympics.
The Indian pair was leading 80-78 at the halfway point, but South Korea made a comeback and leveled the match at 157-157. After this the match reached shoot-off, where both Chikita and Sahil scored 10 points, while South Korea’s last arrow hit 9 points. In this way India won this exciting match. This victory also means that India has retained the gold medal it had won as a compound mixed team in the Hangzhou 2023 Asian Games.
Chikita and Sahil’s blast
Chikita Taniparthy and Sahil Jadhav defeated Thailand 156-155 in a tough compound mixed team semi-final and secured their place in the gold medal match. India took the lead after the opening ends and then maintained a small lead throughout the match. Chikitha and Sahil kept their composure by scoring 10 points each in the final rotation and later won by just one point. He maintained his composure and secured victory by one point. This pair did the same thing in the finals and won the title by scoring a perfect 10.
Let us tell you, earlier also India had won the gold medal in archery in the women’s combined team event. In the compound team, Jyoti Surekha Vennam, Prithika Pradeep, Chikita Taniparthy had entered the semi-finals against South Korea at around 6 am. Shortly after this he played the gold medal match. In the final, he faced the challenge of Chinese players, which he overcame and won the country the seventh gold medal of these games. This team also equaled the world record. Won the gold medal by defeating China by a margin of 238-234.
The story of Chikita and Sahil is no less than an example.
The story of Sahil Jadhav and Chikita Paritharthi, who won the gold medal by defeating South Korea in a thrilling shoot-off, is no less than an example for new archers. Along with the gold medal, both of them also secured the 2028 Olympic quota for India. While 18 year old Chikita comes from a farmer family from Telangana, Sahil Jadhav from Maharashtra took up the bow and arrow after seeing his neighbour.
Chikita got training by selling harvester machines
Chikita Taniparthy’s father had sold the family’s rice harvester machine and taken a loan to buy a bow for his daughter and meet the training expenses. Srinivas Rao, a 51-year-old farmer and his wife Srilatha Rao, living in Sultanpur village in Telangana’s Peddapalli district, recounted their struggles.