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History made as India and Mexico take first compound team golds at worlds

7 September 2025

Gwangju, Korea

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History was made in Gwangju as India and Mexico both won their first-ever compound team gold medals at a World Archery Championships.

Rishabh Yadav, Aman Saini and Prathamesh Bhalchandra Fuge edged France in a nail-biting men’s team final. Tied at 205 with one arrow each remaining, Jean Philippe Boulch and Nicolas Girard dropped nines to hand India the advantage. The trio closed with three straight 10s to seal it, 235–233.

“We started slow,” said Rishabh, who had earlier lost the mixed team final with Jyothi Surekha Vennam. “We were two points down in the first round but I told my team: it’s still three more rounds, nothing to lose, because this is the first time India’s compound men’s team is in this event.”

“When the match got close, the hope started to build up. Then it changed to: now it’s time, we have to get the gold.”

“In the last rotation, France dropped two points. When you shoot well in the last arrows and win, it’s a different kind of moment to celebrate.”

France will rue that fifth end, but given the depth of India’s squad – 2023 youth world champion Priyansh and 2015 Hyundai Archery World Cup Final silver medallist Abhishek Verma weren’t even selected for Gwangju – this breakthrough felt inevitable.

It was particularly special for 23-year-old Yadav, who before arriving in Korea posted an emotional tribute to Verma on Instagram, crediting him for introducing him to the sport and helping him buy his first bow.

India compound men's team waving to the crowd.

India is known for its ruthless trials system, with multiple national selections each year to ensure the best archers are chosen on form rather than reputation. Just nine days after Gwangju, the team will head back to trials for November’s Asian Archery Championships in Dhaka.

But Yadav has been a constant in 2025. He has collected two individual bronzes (Shanghai and the Chengdu 2025 World Games), team medals (bronze in Shanghai, gold in Central Florida) and mixed medals (gold in Central Florida, bronze in Madrid). Now he adds a World [Archery] Championship gold and silver to his tally.

Vennam has long been India’s standard-bearer on the women’s side. Yadav may be on his way to doing the same for the men.

“We are still on the road to the Olympics, so it’s all good,” he said. “All the medals we had throughout the World Cup stages showed we are able to do the same on the world championship level.”

“It adds up that we are on the right path.”

Mexico’s women are on the same trajectory.

Since silver in Berlin two years ago, the country has been a regular podium presence. This year alone, the women’s team reached three World Cup finals (two golds, one silver).

World number one Andrea Becerra is the only holdover from Berlin, but it was Mariana Bernal who shone brightest at 5.18 Democracy Square, dropping a perfect eight 10s (four 10Xs) despite the downpour and humidity as Mexico beat the USA, 236–231.

“I really saw this coming, that we were going to make history, because this is our first gold medal at a World [Archery] Championship,” said the 22-year-old Bernal, who was constantly encouraging her teammates behind the line. “I just knew we were gonna make history, and I wanted to shoot so well. Since the morning, I was feeling really strong, and I’m so happy.”

“I really wanted this goal for all of us as a team because we’ve fought a lot for this – and I’m so happy we did it.”

Bernal and Becerra shed tears of joy on the podium alongside Adriana Castillo. But their focus will quickly shift to the individual eliminations tomorrow.

There were more breakthroughs, too. Kazakhstan’s Adel Zhexenbinova and Roxana Yunussova, joined by Viktoriya Lyan, secured the country’s first-ever World Archery Championship medal with bronze in the women’s team event, defeating Great Britain, 232–229.

Slovenia also collected its first world medal in compound, taking men’s team bronze.

The compound women’s individual eliminations take place tomorrow morning at the Gwangju International Archery Centre, before the men’s finals return to 5.18 Democracy Square in the afternoon.