World Archery Youth C’ships: Parth Salunkhe wins Under-21 recurve gold; Bhajan Kaur claims bronze

India ended its campaign at the World Archery Youth Championships on Sunday with a gold and bronze medal on the final day of the contest in Limerick, Ireland.

Parth Salunkhe, in the men’s under-21 recurve individual event came from behind to beat South Korea’s Song Injun 7-3 to claim the gold medal. Meanwhile, Bhajan Kaur won bronze in the women’s under-21 recurve event after a 7-1 win over Chinese Taipei’s Su Hsin-Yu in the third-place playoff tie.

The haul on Sunday gave India a total haul of six gold, one silver and four bronze medals from the competition.

Salunkhe started on level terms with Song, with both archers finishing at 26-26 in the first set. The Korean however, took a lead in the second set, winning it 28-26 to go up 3-1 in the overall score.

Salunkhe then made it 3-3 after winning the third 28-26, before taking a lead in the fourth set after scoring a near-perfect 29 to Song’s 26.

The 19-year-old started the final set strongly, with two 10s while Song managed two nines. In his final shot, the Korean hit a six, giving Salunkhe a minimum of six to make in his final shot to claim the gold. The Indian hit an eight to secure his second medal of the contest, after winning the men’s team event bronze earlier in the week.

“It’s a great feeling that I can be a world champion here,” Salunkhe said to World Archery after the match. “The wind was quite tricky. It was hard to judge according to the wind. But I maintained my composure. I was composed, I was focused, and I was dedicated that yes, I was going to win.”

Kaur meanwhile, led from the start against Su in the bronze-medal match. The 17-year-old Indian had lost 7-1 in the semi-final to Soth Korea’s Oh Yejin, but did not leave the competition empty handed.

In the first set of the bronze-medal match, she notched a 28-25 win to go up 2-0.

In the second set, both archers shared the spoils with a 27-27 scoreline, Kaur still leading 3-1.

In the third, the Indian shot a near perfect 29 to Su’s 25, going up 5-1. In the final set however, Kaur hit the centre circle three times for a perfect 30, as opposed to Su’s 26, to claim the bronze medal.