Indian archer Aditi Swami scripted history in Berlin on Aug 5 when she became the youngest-ever individual archery world champion.
The 17-year-old from Satara in Maharashtra shot 149 out of a possible 150 points in the compound women’s final at the World Archery Championships to prevail over Mexican 16th seed Andrea Becerra by two points.
She is the first Indian to win an individual gold medal at the World Championships. India’s Ojas Deotale won the men’s crown a few hours later.
A day earlier, Aditi teamed up with Jyothi Vennam and Parneet Kaur to win the gold in the women’s team compound event – India’s first ever gold medal in the history of the Archery World Championships.
“It is really great that at 17 I could become the world champion,” Aditi told World Archery after her win. “I am very proud, I wanted to hear the 52 seconds of the national anthem being played at the World Championships.”
“I was just focused on winning the first gold for the country. I knew she (Becerra) was very experienced and someone whom I grew up watching and idolising, but I just kept my focus on my shooting, the rest just fell in place.”
What is even more remarkable about Aditi’s achievement is that it comes just over a month after she won the Under-18 World Championship in Limerick, Ireland.
Both Aditi and Ojas train at the same academy in Satara. Pravin Sawant is their coach.
India finished the tournament with their best ever finish at the tournament, three golds and one bronze.
Archery Association of India secretary-general Pramod Chandurkar said: “It’s no fluke and a result of strong team work, focus on sports science and 100 per cent faith on our technical team. We are expecting at least four medals from the Asian Games. It’s a big moment for Indian archery.”
Aditi now has her eye set on next month’s Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.
“This is just the start,” she said. “We have the Asian Games coming up, I want to win gold for the country.”
Before that, she will participate in the Archery World Cup Stage 4 in Paris, before returning to India later this month for training.
Indo-Asian News Service
