Best of the Para archery World Championships in Gwangju
India's Sheetal Devi, China's Wu Chunyan and Republic of Korea's Kim Ok Geum were among the biggest stars at the Para archery World Championships in Gwangju, Korea 02 Oct 2025
The biannual Para archery World Championships, which took place from 22-28 September, in Gwangju, Korea, was packed with great competition.
A year after the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, China dominated the overall medals table again, claiming a total of 12 medals including six gold. Two-time Paralympic champion Tianxin Zhang topped the podium three times.
Yet, China also lost several high-profile matches, which was proof of the high level of competition in Gwangju.
The biggest breakthrough? A Mongolian recurve effort that took two team golds – both featuring Demberel Selengee, after the nation’s previous best was a single world team bronze.
It propelled Mongolia to an astonishing third on the medals table, finishing above Turkiye, Korea, Czechia, Italy and the USA. Sheetal Devi and Toman Kumar won the women’s and men’s compound open events, respectively, to lead India to second plan on the table.
Who were the biggest stars of the seven-day World Championships? Get to know the three performances that surprised and delighted us the most in Gwangju.
Sheetal Devi (India)
Sheetal Devi took down her second major in Gwangju, after her win at the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Para Games, beating reigning World and Paralympic Champion Oznur Cure Girdi for the compound title.
“I had a dream I would become world champion,” said Devi. “It made me want to work. I worked and worked and today I’ve got such a good result.”
Well-known for being inspired by and the protege of Matt Stutzman, Devi is already going someway to match his achievements – not just on finals fields, but in inspiring and motivating others to push past boundaries.
She shot to stardom after winning her first major title at the 2022 Asian Games. Silver at Pilsen 2023 Worlds and mixed team bronze at Paris 2024 followed, making her no stranger to the sport’s biggest podiums.
The match in Gwangju was a repeat of the 2023 World Championship final. Tied after the first end, the match pivoted on the second, which Devi cleaned while Girdi dropped three points. That swing proved decisive, as the Indian maintained her advantage until the finish.
“The pressure wasn’t great,” Devi said. “I controlled myself and shot very calmly. My heartbeat wasn’t so fast, so there was less pressure. It felt amazing just to be in the finals again.”
Wu Chunyan (China)
While Wu Chunyan has not quite fully dominated her era, in Gwangju she achieved something unique in the history of Para archery. No athlete had ever won four world titles with the same bow until Wu did so on Sunday, 28 September, delivering possibly the finest performance of the day.
Wu, who has won two gold medals across three Paralympic Games, used all her experience to overcome her much younger teammate in the women’s recurve open final.
Not everything went her way in Gwangju (she lost two team semifinals), but she won every finals match she entered and gleefully punished opponent errors. She earned bronze in the women’s recurve open doubles and recurve mixed team.
She has now won eight world titles, more than any other Para archer. Only the Asian Para Championships remain for her to complete the set.
Kim Ok Geum (Republic of Korea)
Age is just a number, but in Kim Ok Geum’s case, it makes her achievement all the more remarkable. The 65-year-old world No. 3 in women’s W1, who spent most of her career in compound, won her first world title at Gwangju in the women’s doubles team event with Lee Eunhee, on home soil, and one splashed widely across Korean media.
Kim only began archery in her fifties, yet an unprecedented willingness to work and compete at the very highest level has led her to multiple team and individual medals ever since her international debut in 2014, including a Paralympic silver team medal. She placed fourth in Paris 2024, competing as one of the oldest Paralympians.
It goes to show that attitude is everything in sport.
“It’s my first gold medal at the World Championships, so it’s even more precious, and I was moved to tears during the awards ceremony as I remembered the difficult training I went through," she told Korean news.
“It was especially encouraging that the mayor and the sports association staff came to cheer me on. I will do my best to achieve good results at the 2026 Nagoya Asian Games.”
She is just getting started.
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