Indian archers Komalika Bari and Sakshi Chaudhary aim to win gold medals at World Youth Championships

Indian archers Komalika Bari and Sakshi Chaudhary stormed into the finals of recurve junior and compound junior categories, respectively, at the World Youth Archery Championships in Wroclaw, Poland on Thursday.

The 19-year-old Bari will now set her sights on getting the U-21 recurve gold when she meets Spain’s Elia Canales in the final.

Incidentally, Komalika Bari will be leading the Indian senior team at the World Championships next month.

Read: Indian compound archers break world record at World Youth Championships

Bari shot to fame when she won the U-18 individual title at the youth worlds in Madrid two years ago. A win in the final will put Komalika Bari at par with India and World No. 1 archer Deepika Kumari, as she will become the second recurve archer from India to hold the under-18 and under-21 world titles.

Deepika Kumari completed the double in Legnica a decade ago.

Two years after winning the under-18 world title, India’s Komalika Bari is into the gold medal match for the under-21 champion crown! 🥇🇮🇳#archery pic.twitter.com/KNhpPxw9Of

— World Archery (@worldarchery) August 12, 2021

Komalika Bari is undoubtedly excited about reaching the final. Speaking to World Archery after her come-from-behind 6-4 semifinal win against American Casey Kaufhold, Komalika Bari said:

“I’m very happy! I think I did really well. I’m in the final! I’m so excited about that and I’m going to do my best. I will try to get the gold medal to have a complete collection. Gold and gold. I feel ready to fight for it in the final.”

In the compound U-21 event, Sakshi Chaudhary stormed into her first-ever final on the world stage. She will meet U-21 world champion Amanda Mlinaric of Croatia in the final.

Making her debut on the world stage, Sakshi Chaudhary admitted that it is a different feeling to be playing in the final and is geared up for it. Speaking to World Archery, she said:

“I have never been on the finals stage before, so I’m very proud to see my country’s flag rising high. I have already secured a medal and I'm happy for it. August 15th is the Indian Independence Day, so it’s kind of a good and happy feeling for me.”

The finals are scheduled to be held on Sunday, August 15.