Archery rishabh yadav is getting ready for the world

Archery rishabh yadav is getting ready for the world

New Delhi: Rishabh Yadav is groggy and jetlagged. He has barely got any sleep since landing from Madrid on Tuesday morning, but the 22-year-old is already looking forward to training with mentor Abhishek Verma in SAI’s Sonepat campus the next day. Moving on from success and failures is something he has assiduously learned from Verma and Jyothi Surekha Vennam — with whom he set the compound mixed team world record last week — and it has stood him in good stead in his young international career.

Last week, Vennam and Yadav topped the qualification in the fourth stage of the World Cup in Madrid, shooting a combined 1431 to surpass the previous mark of 1429, held by Denmark’s Tanja Gellenthien and Mathias Fullerton from the Krakow-Malopolska 2023 European Games. Yadav, who was also in line to break the individual world record (718) but finished two short, came to know about the mixed-team achievement only when the giant screen flashed the record.

“We were obviously elated, but grounded. Both Jyothi and Abhishek are quite calm and that is something I have learned from them. It’s the first time a senior archery world record belongs to India. Owning a world record has been a longstanding dream,” Yadav said.

The conditions in Madrid were not ideal. The heat was sapping and searing, forcing the afternoon sessions to be pushed by a few hours, and the round-shaped Vallehermoso Stadium ensured the wind swirled. It meant the Indian pair couldn’t repeat their heroics in the medal round, finishing with a bronze medal after going down to eventual champions from Netherlands, Mike Schloesser and Sanne de Laat, in the semis.

Even in defeat, Yadav couldn’t help marvel at world No.1 Schloesser who also won the individual gold. “I was in awe of the way he shot in the wind. I spoke to Abhishek and he said we’ll iron out our shortcomings once we get back. I can’t wait to get started.”

Yadav’s success in the Spanish capital is no flash in the pan. After showing early promise in his debut year by winning the World Youth Championships bronze in Poland (2021) and mixed team and team medals at the Asian Championships (2021), Yadav courted success at the twin Asia Cups in Iraq and Thailand (2022), but 2025 is when he seemed to have truly turned the corner.

Yadav medalled at World Cups in Shanghai and Central Florida earlier this year, including an individual bronze in Shanghai. With World Championships (Sept 5-12) and the season-ending World Cup Final (Oct 17-19) lined up, the Gurugram native is hopeful of extending his good run.

“It’s been a great year so far. Winning the mixed team medal is important because it is an Olympic discipline now and we’d like to build on that.”

“As for my short term goals, World Championships and World Cup Final are on my radar. After that, the focus will shift to the Asian Games,” he said.

For the World Championships in Gwangju, Yadav will team up with Prathmesh Fuge and Aman Saini. The trials for the Worlds were held a day after the team returned from the Antalya World Cup in June, and the seasoned duo of Verma and Ojas Deotale missed the cut.

“I believe a lot of archers were not at their best in the trials which means we will have a new-look men’s team at the Worlds. The lack of a senior figurehead is a bit of concern but we hope to build the camaraderie ahead of the event,” Yadav noted.

A football enthusiast, Yadav was drawn to archery at the age of eight because “there would be 50-60 people trying to kick a solitary football” in his school that also had a basic archery facility. His parents took their time to reconcile with Yadav’s interest but came around when results began to show.

By 2014, he began to train in New Delhi’s Yamuna Sports Complex under coach Lokesh Chand where he also came under the tutelage of Verma.

“He took me under his wings. He guided me through my childhood and adolescence and told me not to let go of academics because that would make me a better archer,” Yadav recalled. Like Verma, Yadav proceeded to graduate in Arts from Hansraj College and on Verma’s insistence, he is pursuing a full-time MBA.

“There has to be life beyond sport. Abhishek helped me set personal goals, encouraged me to do well at the Nationals so that I could avail financial assistance from the Haryana government. I wish to walk down his path and make him proud someday,” said Yadav. A good show at the Worlds and World Cup Final might just be enough.