Actualités

Emotional Simranjeet Kaur storms to final four at Shanghai 2026

08 mai 2026

Shanghai, China

Vrai nom:

Simranjeet Kaur aiming at the Yuanshen Sports Centre during recurve women eliminations at Shanghai 2026.

An emotional Simranjeet Kaur proved to be India’s unlikely hero on Friday as she booked a place in the recurve women’s final four at the second stage of the 2026 Hyundai Archery World Cup in Shanghai.

Kaur doubled Fong You Jhu’s 10 count of two in the quarterfinal, posting end scores of 27, 28 and 29 to sweep aside her Chinese Taipei opponent in straight sets at Yuanshen Sports Centre, where the wind proved less influential than earlier in the week.

It will be the first World Cup final stage appearance of her career and the emotion was immediate once the result was confirmed, with Kaur wiping away tears before quickly calling her father.

“I just called my dad after the match and I cried because it actually is a big deal for me and it was long-awaited,” said the 27-year-old. “I feel like this is the best thing which can ever happen to an archer who is preparing for each and every World Cup, the bigger events and all the competitions.”

Kaur explained that throughout the day she repeatedly reminded herself to “detach and shoot” in an effort to remove pressure and expectation from each arrow.

“I think 1000 times today I told myself to detach and shoot,” she said. “Detach from the result, detach from the emotions and everything else – just shoot.”

“From match one and arrow one, I kept telling myself to detach and shoot because when you become too attached to the result or where the arrow is going to land, it becomes very difficult,” she said. “I’ve lost many more times when I was too attached before.”

Mental composure is one of the defining challenges at elite events such as the World Cup circuit.

The technical work is established long before competition begins, but the ability to manage pressure in high-stakes situations is something that can only truly be developed through competition itself.

For Kaur, that challenge is intensified further by the demands of India’s selection system.

Simranjeet Kaur in the middle of India's coaches, celebrating reaching the final four at Shanghai 2026.

The country is known for one of the most competitive national trial structures in world archery, with multiple selection events held each year to maintain depth across every major international squad.

That depth was evident again in Shanghai. Kaur actually finished fourth among India’s recurve women in qualification behind Ankita Bhakat (10th), Kumkum Anil Mohod (11th) and veteran Deepika Kumari (14th).

The Baghdad 2024 Asia Cup silver medallist seeded 15th overall and therefore will not feature in India’s recurve women’s team gold medal match against China, although all four athletes could still leave Shanghai with medals on Sunday.

“They are very long trials in India and we have to shoot very consistently again and again to be in the team,” said Kaur. “The funny thing is, after going back from Shanghai, we have Asian Games trials but I feel like the trials are a bit different from the World Cup here.”

“If you lose one match, it’s finished here, but in the trials you get chances to show consistency and arrow average, so both of them are actually very different things.”

An individual World Cup medal would nevertheless strengthen Kaur’s case ahead of another fiercely contested Asian Games selection process later this season.

Korea’s absence from the recurve men’s final four proved almost as surprising as Kaur’s breakthrough.

Berkim Tumer and Mete Gazoz eliminated Seo Mingi and Kim Woojin respectively via shoot-offs, meaning Türkiye could still claim up to five gold medals across compound and recurve competition in Shanghai.

Competition continues on Saturday with the compound finals at Riverside Financial Plaza.