Pravin Ramesh Jadhav (born 6 July 1996) is an Indian

archer Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In modern ...

who competes in the recurve discipline. At the

2019 World Archery Championships The 2019 World Archery Championships were held in 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands from 10 to 16 June 2019. The event served as a qualifier for the Archery at the 2020 Summer Olympics, 2020 Summer Olympics, with each men's and women's team that mad ...

, he was a member of the first Indian team to qualify for the final since 2005; the team received the silver medal. He made his Olympic debut in Tokyo at the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

and represented India again at the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

in Paris.

Early life

Jadhav was born on 6 July 1996 into a family of daily wage labourers. His family lived in a

shack A shack (or, in some areas, shanty) is a type of small shelter or dwelling, often primitive or rudimentary in design and construction. Unlike huts, shacks are constructed by hand using available materials; however, whereas huts are usually r ...

near a drain in the drought-prone village of Sarade in Satara district. Jadhav would sometimes accompany his father to work in the farm, during his teenage years. Interested in sports from his childhood, Jadhav participated in

800 meters The 800 metres, or 800 meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event sin ...

at district level, but did not have enough stamina as a result of being undernourished. His school teacher Vikas Bhujbal then bore the expenses for his training and diet, resulting in better performances and selection in the Krida Parbodhini school. After receiving training for one year in

Balewadi Balewadi is a residential suburban town of Pune, located in the city's Western Metropolitan Corridor. It is famous for the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex which had hosted both the National Games in 1994 and the 2008 Commonwealth Youth ...

Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

, where his 800 meters timing improved, he shifted to

Amravati Amravati (/Marathi phonology, əmᵊɾɑʋᵊt̪iː/) is a city in Maharashtra located in the Vidarbha region. It is the ninth largest city in Maharashtra, India & second largest city in the Vidarbha region in terms of population. It is the ...

, where he was trained in archery. Jadhav, still physically weak, experienced difficulty in handling the weight of the

recurve bow In archery, a recurve bow is one of the main Bow shape, shapes a bow (weapon), bow can take, with limbs that curve away from the archer when unstrung. A recurve bow stores more energy and delivers energy more efficiently than the equivalent strai ...

, with the academy mulling to release him due to his sub-par performances. Bhujbal then requested help from Mahesh Palkar, an education officer, who asked the academy to give Jadhav a final chance. Having been given five shots to prove himself, Jadhav scored over 45 and retained his place in the academy. He is supported by sports NGO Olympic Gold Quest.

Career

Jadhav first represented India at the 2016 Asia Cup Stage 1 in Bangkok, where he won bronze medal in the men's recurve team event. Later that year, he was part of Indian B team in the

2016 Archery World Cup The 2016 Archery World Cup is the 11th edition of the international archery circuit organised annually by the World Archery Federation. The preliminary stage consisted of three legs instead of the usual four, to make room for the Archery at the 2016 ...

stage in

Medellín Medellín ( ; or ), officially the Special District of Science, Technology and Innovation of Medellín (), is the List of cities in Colombia, second-largest city in Colombia after Bogotá, and the capital of the department of Antioquia Departme ...

. At the

, Jadhav was a member of the Indian team which became the first men's recurve team from the country to qualify for the final since 2005. The team of Jadhav,

Atanu Das Atanu Das (born 5 April 1992) is an Indian archer. He represents India in the recurve men's individual and team events. Career Das started archery at the age of 14 under the coaching of Mithu Da. In 2008, he moved to Tata Archery Academy where ...

and

Tarundeep Rai Tarundeep Rai (born 22 February 1984) is an Indian archer from Sikkim. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 2021 by the Government of India for his contribution to sports. He is a three time Olympian. Early life Rai was born in Namchi, Sikkim, ...

beat sixth-seeded Canada to qualify for the knockout stage and secure India a place at the

. Then they beat third-seeded Chinese Taipei and hosts Netherlands in the quarterfinals and semifinals respectively. The team settled for silver after losing to China in the final.

Personal life

Jadhav was recruited in the

Indian Army The Indian Army (IA) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Land warfare, land-based branch and largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head ...

under sports quota in 2017, after being spotted by Colonel Vikram Dhayal, coach of the compound team, during the 2016 World Cup. As of 2019, he is ranked

havaldar Havildar or havaldar ( Hindustani: or (Devanagari), (Perso-Arabic)) is a rank in the Indian and Pakistani armies, equivalent to sergeant. It is not used in cavalry and armoured units, where the equivalent is daffadar. Like a British serge ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jadhav, Pravin 1996 births Living people Indian male archers Archers from Maharashtra People from Satara district Archers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Archers at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic archers for India World Archery Championships medalists