"I was chasing an individual world record": Rishabh Yadav

India’s mixed compound team of Rishabh Yadav and Jyothi Surekha Vennam set a new world record in the qualification round at the 2025 Archery World Cup Stage 4 in Madrid on Tuesday.

The Indian duo shot 1431 to break the World record by 2 points.

But the day didn’t end with just one milestone. Rishabh also registered a personal best of 716 in the men’s individual compound qualification round, narrowly missing the world record of 718 held by Braden Gellenthien.

Jyothi too posted her personal best international score with a 715.

“We were unaware of the world record till the very last moment because it was the qualification round. We were more focused on getting the individual world records,” Rishabh Yadav told The Bridge from Madrid.

“We shot our international personal bests. And apparently, this happened to be on the same day and resulted in a world record. When we got the confirmation, we were full of joy.”

A historic first for Indian Archery

This is India’s first senior world record in any archery event (compound or recurve), marking a historic breakthrough for Indian archery on the global stage. 

“It’s the first time for us to set a world record. I think it’s also the first time India has a senior world record. So, that’s special,” he said.

Rishabh shared how he remained focused during the round: “There’s a screen on the ground with the scores. And during the competition, I didn’t pay much attention to it. I was chasing an individual world record. I was not looking at the screen. I didn’t want the scores to get into my head.”

“It takes a little time for the scores to get updated. I didn’t know what Jyothi (di) had shot. When we both finished and the scores got updated, we knew we had made the new record,” he shared.

Rishabh added that his score is one of the highest by an Indian archer in any international competition.

“I am happy to have achieved my personal best. The score that I shot is one of the highest scores by an Indian in any international competition. So, it's again a benchmark score. It's a benchmark score,” an elated Rishabh said.

The Indian duo, bagged top seedings, will be seen in action in the mixed event on Friday. They will be directly playing the second round by virtue of a bye in the opening round.

Rishabh is happy that the mixed event will make its debut in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Rishabh and Jyothi had earlier won a gold in the mixed event at the World Cup stage 1 in Auburndale, USA.

“Indian archers have a good result in the mixed team event. Earlier, we won a gold and now we have a record also. We are taking the right steps towards LA2028,” he said.

Rishabh started archery in 2012 and made his international debut in 2018. He played in his first senior tournament in 2021, and the same year, he teamed up with Jyothi for the first time in the mixed team event at the Asian Championship. The duo won a silver medal together.

“I have always looked up to Jyothi (di) and Abhishek (Verma). They are exceptional players. And playing with them is a great feeling,” he concluded.