25-year-old Pravin Jadhav from the Satara district in Maharashtra will make his Olympic debut in Tokyo, representing India in three events including recurve men individual, recurve men team and recurve mixed team. Born into a family of labourers, who lived in a shack near a drain, Jadhav would accompany his father as a teenager to help out in the farms.
He had an interest in sports from a very young age and eventually fell in love with archery using the discipline to chart his way out of financial struggles.
Today, Jadhav is gearing up to represent India at the Olympics.
He secured the bronze medal in the Asia Cup Stage 1 in Bangkok in the men’s recurve team in 2018 and has since become one of the top India archers.
Jadhav won the silver medal in the World Championships and was part of the team which became the first from India to reach the finals of the World Archery Championships since 2005.
With the silver, Jadhav along with Atanu Das and veteran Tarundeep Rai booked their seat for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Age - 27
Sports/Discipline - Archery
Working Ranking – 41 (Recurve Men)
Major Achievements
World Championships
Silver – Men’s Team, 2019 Hertogenbosch
Tokyo Olympics Qualification
In 2019, Jadhav along with Atanu and Tarundeep secured silver in the final of the World Archery Championships as they beat sixth-seeded Canada to qualify for the knockout rounds, which helped them secure Olympic spot. A confident India men’s recurve side beat Chinese Taipei in the quarter-finals, followed by ousting hosts Netherlands to reach the finals of the World Championships. The Indian men’s recurve team had to settle for silver after losing to China in the finals.
Recent Performances
Jadhav participated at the 2021 World Cup in Paris and made it to the fourth round before losing to England’s Patrick Huston 2-6. The archer finished ninth in the tournament. He also participated in the World Cup in Guatemala City in April, but was ousted from the tournament in the third round itself. Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi lauded the youngster in his monthly radio show, ‘Mann Ki Baat’. The Prime Minister highlighted the struggles Jadhav and his family went through and his journey to the Olympics.
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