World Archery Para Championship: Jyoti Baliyan - Swami make history, enter finals

Indian compound para-archers Shyam Sundar Swami and Jyoti Baliyan created history on Wednesday. They stormed into the final of the Mixed Team event at the ongoing World Archery Para Championships in Dubai.

This is the first time Indian archers have made it to the gold medal match, having participated in three World Championships.

The pair of Swami and Jyoti Baliyan shot brilliantly to defeat France comprising Julie Rigault Chupin and Thierry Joussaume 151-145 in the semi-finals.

The Indian duo started the day with a 151-138 win over Iraq in the second round, before pipping Italy by just one point 147-146 in the quarter-finals.

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The Indian team will meet the Russian Federation in the summit clash on Friday.

Jyoti Baliyan elated on record-breaking feat

Jyoti Baliyan and Shyam Sundar Swami will become the first Indian para-archer pair to win a gold medal if they win in the final.

Reacting to the stupendous performance, Jyoti Baliyan said she was proud to become the first Indian para-archer to win a medal at this stage.

“It’s a very proud feeling to become the first ever para-archer from India to win a medal at the World Championships. The entire team has worked very hard and I am happy that we were able to execute our plans and follow the process here as well. Dubai has been a happy hunting ground for me, with three medals in three championships so far. I hope to make it memorable with a perfect score on Friday," she said after the semi-final win.

Speaking about her combination with Shyam Sundar Swami, the Uttar Pradesh-based archer said:

“I enjoy playing the Mixed Team event more as the workload is divided. I know I have a backup if I make a mistake. As a pair, we have grown in many aspects.”

Both Shyam Sundar Swami and Jyoti have been playing together since 2017. They won silver medals at the Asian Championships in 2019 and at the Fazza World Ranking Tournament in 2021.

Jyoti, however, had faltered in other events – exiting early in her women’s doubles and individual events.

In the compound men’s open individual matches, Swami and Rakesh Kumar showed a lot of promise. But they faltered losing in the fourth round and quarter-finals, respectively.

Swami lost to eventual finalist Gombozhapov Aleksandr of Russian Federation 142-139. While Kumar fell against top seed Bair Shigaev, also from Russian Federation, 145-143 in the semi-finals.

The Recurve Open team and women's archers, including Paralympic medallist Harvinder Singh, will start their campaign on Thursday.