Bengal’s Juyel on target; boxers Shiva, Lovlina dominate ring

New Delhi: Juyel Sarkar, a student of the Bengal Archery Academy in Jhargram, brought glory to West Bengal by clinching the gold medal in the recurve section at the 38th National Games being held in Uttarakhand.

He stunned veteran Tarundeep Rai, a four-time Olympian, to reign supreme.

“I congratulate Juyel Sarkar, an ace archer and trainee of Bengal Archery Academy, Jhargram on winning gold medal in individual recurve 70m event at the 38th National Games 2025 being held at Uttarakhand,” Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee posted on her X handle.

Hailing from Malda, Juyel emerged from the Jhargram Archery Academy, which is operated by the state government and spearheaded by the state sports minister Aroop Biswas. Juyel, who has been a part of the academy since 2018, joined at the tender age of 12. His triumph underscores the effectiveness of the academy in nurturing talent and producing champions.

Meanwhile, the highly-decorated recurve archer Deepika Kumari, who reached the quarterfinals in the women’s event in the Paris Olympics, clinched two gold - one each in the individual and team events.

In other results, Olympics medallist Lovlina Borgohain and six-time Asian champion Shiva Thapa led the way with commanding wins in their respective boxing bouts.

In the men’s 63.5kg division, Assam’s Thapa, a seasoned international boxer, demonstrated his experience to outclass Maharashtra’s Harivansh Tiwari in an intense contest.

In the women’s 75kg division, Assam’s Lovlina brought all her experience into play to overpower Nagaland’s Renu.

In other bouts of the day, the men’s 51kg division saw Chandigarh’s Anshul Punia dominate the ring against Manipur’s Changlemba Singh, securing a well-earned victory.

Meanwhile, in another bout in the same weight class, SSCB’s Mandengbam Jadumani proved his superiority with a convincing win over

Haryana’s Vikash.