Sree Charani’s ice-cool control. Sheetal Devi’s relentless grit. Chess queen Divya Deshmukh unleashing gambits. In 2025, India’s young sportswomen didn’t just compete — they conquered. From Unnati Hooda and Tanvi Sharma ushering in a new era in badminton to the rise of another ‘Phogat’ — Suruchi — this time on the shooting range, Ankita Bhagat rattling South Korea’s archery dynasty, Preeti Panwar’s clinical power in the ring, or Antim Panghal reminding she still owns the mat. Express Sports dives deep into ‘Gen She’ – the trailblazers who kept the Tricolour flying high.
Ankita Bhakat remembers walking in the snow to get to the targets at the Kim Hyung Tak Archery Training Centre at Chungcheongbuk-do, South Korea in February early this year. In frigid weather which would dip from 5 degrees to -5, the archer from Kolkata would take sight through windows within buildings, while coach Kim Hyung Tak stood guard nearby, analysing her technique. Just five months removed from being one of the few Indians across different events who had finished fourth at the Paris Olympics, the 27-year-old wanted to conduct further work on her technique. Fast forward to December this year and Bhakat has picked up wins over Tokyo Olympics medallists Kang Chaeyoung and Jang Min Hee, and Paris Olympics silver medallist Su-hyeon and aims to build on those performances in 2026 with an Asian Games medal.
“The day me and Dhiraj finished fourth at Paris, I could not sleep the whole night. Itne dur tak pahunchi hun, iss se bhi aage jana hai (I have reached so far and have to go further). When I started archery at the Circus ground in Kolkata, I shot with wooden bows and from there, I reached the Olympics. In Korea when I would go to fetch my arrows from the snow, I would tell myself that I have to practice more to win the Olympic gold one day,” said Bhakat while speaking to The Indian Express.
Bhakat, who grew up watching her father manage his dairy and distribute milk packets, shifted base to the Tata Academy in Jamshedpur at the age of 15, after being selected for a stipend of Rs 1500 initially. She first made it to the Indian team in 2016 and over the last nine years has won multiple medals including a team bronze at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games. At the Paris Games, Bhakat and Bommadevara reached the mixed team semis. The pair lost to Koreans Lim Sihyeon and Kim Woojin and would face Americans Brady Ellison and Casey Kaufhold in the bronze-medal match. Bhakat, who finished 2024 with a point average of 9.06 per shot, tragically hit a four during the women’s quarter-final and a seven during the mixed team loss. With social media targeting her two ‘bad’ shots, the archer spoke about how she sees ‘those’ shots.
Ankita Bhakat in action. (FILE photo)
“I am not that active on social media so I don’t know what people are saying. But then I believe jaise 10 lagta hai, 7-8 bhi lagta hai. (Like a ten is hit, 7-8s also happen.) Nobody hits such shots off their own will. I think about how to get better after mistakes,” said Bhakat.
This year has seen Bhakat not make it to the medal stages of any World Cup stages in the individual category but the Kolkata archer has come close to winning medals in the team events. Bhakat talked about how she would miss the inner ten target, shooting towards the 3 o’clock position and how coach Kim Hyung Tak has made her change her technique.
“I was shooting towards the 3 o’clock position and the arrows would fly towards the right side. Coach Kim would make my draw of the bow a bit smaller. So it took time to adjust to that. What Kim changed, I would replicate with coaches back home. Patience was important in this phase and listening to Hindi devotional songs also kept my mental state good,” said Bhakat.
At Bangladesh during the Archery Asian Championships, Bhakat would first come back trailing 0-4 to win by 6-4 against Tokyo Olympics team gold medalist Jang Min Hee in the quarters before scoring a win over compatriot Deepika Kumari followed by a 7-3 win over Paris Olympics team gold and individual silver medalist Su-hyeon. Coach Purnima Mahato talked about how changing her technique has made Ankita a patient archer and how it will benefit her in 2026.
Indian archer Ankita Bhakat won a gold at the Asian Championships. (PHOTO: World Archery media)
“For an archer like Ankita, who shoots with a poundage of 44, it takes time to change technique and find control,” said Mahato. “In the coming year, focus will be to master the new technique as sometimes, Ankita slips to the old technique in one out of 7-8 shots. It needs patience but if she can achieve perfection in the new technique that will also be the key to get good scores in the Asian Games trials,” said Mahato.
Ankita’s 2026 aim: To go above her best-ever shooting average of 9.11 in 2021. One that can happen if she nails her new technique down. “Yes, sometimes I am making mistakes in this new technique but then with the kind of poundage I shoot with, I have the belief that I can get the timings of my shots to be a bit quicker too. To win an individual Asian Games medal will be the target next year,” says Bhakat.