Join AUS Squad
Back To News
More than 200 athletes from 47 countries will compete at the Gwangju 2025 World Archery Para Championships in Korea from September 22 to 28.
It’s been over a year since the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games and two years since the Pilsen 2023 World Archery Para Championships, where Chris Davis won gold in the W1 category to become Australia’s first Para-archery world champion.
In Gwangju, 15 world titles will be awarded across the three main categories – recurve, compound and W1 – in individual, doubles and mixed team events spread across the week.
As well as these Paralympic categories, there are two world titles available in the visual impairment classifications: V1 and V 2/3. Eighteen athletes from 17 countries will compete across the two divisions, which are not separated by gender.
Four of the six reigning Paralympic champions from Paris 2024 will be competing in Korea: Harvinder Singh, Wu Chunyan, Oznur Cure Girdi, and Jason Tabansky. Wu and Girdi are also reigning world champions.
They will join multiple world and Paralympic medallists including Sarka Pultar Musilova, David Drahoninsky, Nathan MacQueen, Jodie Grinham, Elisabetta Mijno, Jessica Stretton, Phoebe Paterson Pine, Pooja, Sheetal Devi and Piotr Van Montagu on the field.
Key information
Event schedule
- Tuesday 23 September: Qualification
- Wednesday 24 September: Qualification and eliminations
- Thursday 25 September: Eliminations
- Friday 26 September: Doubles eliminations, VI qualification and eliminations
- Saturday 27 September: VI finals (morning) and compound finals (afternoon)
- Sunday 28 September: W1 finals (morning) and recurve finals (afternoon)
How to watch
Live scores will be available on the World Archery website and there will be coverage on World Archery’s digital platforms throughout the competition.
Stories
1) What have China got in the tank? The country has been dominant at world level for the past decade in terms of medal count and topped the medal table in Pilsen with seven gold medals, the fruit of a decades-long investment in Para-sport.
They are sending 18 athletes to Gwangju, including reigning world and Paralympic champion Wu Chunyan, a total beaten only by the host nation Korea, with 21 athletes competing. (Korea, however, only won a single bronze medal in Pilsen, and much more will be expected in Gwangju.)
2) Elisabetta Mijno – is it time? Despite a long and storied career, going back to her international debut in 2008, the veteran Italian is still seeking her first individual world or Paralympic title (she was a mixed team gold medallist at Paris 2024 and mixed team world champ at Beijing 2017).
After a dominant performance at the last major European event in Nove Mesto, will the 39-year-old have enough to take gold? “It’s time to do it.” she said. It would cap a remarkable career.
3) Harvinder Singh – can he pull off the double? The Indian recurver won the Paralympic title at the second attempt after taking bronze in Tokyo, becoming India’s first gold medallist in archery at either. Part of a powerhouse Indian team in Gwangju, much is expected of the world No.1.
A world title to go with the Paralympic gold would cement him as the best Para-recurve of his generation. He’s been winning this year too, but had a minor wobble in the build up to the worlds.
“On match day, a lot depends on your thoughts, your mood, even the first person you talk to, and how settled your mind is. Staying mentally strong will always be the key to success,” he said. Will Harvinder bring his mental A-game to Korea?
Competition categories
Four competition classifications will participate in the World Championships.
The recurve and compound categories mirror those in standing competition and, aside from an extension to the time allowed to shoot an arrow (20 to 30 seconds in arena matchplay), the competition format and equipment rules are the same.
The W1 category is for the most impaired athletes, whose impairments affect at least three limbs and the torso. W1 athletes can use either a recurve or compound bow with weight and accessory limitations. The competition format is the same as for the compound category.
Recurve, compound and W1 archers are often classified to use a variety of assistive devices, ranging from wheelchairs and stools to mouth tabs and specialised release aids, which devices are permitted depends on each archer’s individual impairment.
Vision impaired archers are grouped into two categories. The vision impaired 1 category is for athletes with very little to no vision, while archers competing in the visually impaired 2/3 category wear blindfolds to ensure a level playing field.
The champions
These are the reigning Para World Champions from Pilsen 2023:
- Recurve men: Kevin Mather, USA (not competing)
- Recurve women: Wu Chunyan, China
- Compound men: Matteo Bonacina, Italy (not competing)
- Compound women: Oznur Cure Girdi, Türkiye
- W1 men: Christopher Davis, Australia
- W1 women: Lu Zhang, China (not competing)
- Visually impaired 1: Matteo Panariello, Italy (not competing)
- Visually impaired 2/3*: Steve Prowse, Great Britain (not competing)
These are the reigning Paralympic champions from Paris 2024:
- Recurve men: Harvinder Singh, India
- Recurve women: Wu Chunyan, China
- Compound men: Matt Stutzman, USA (not competing)
- Compound women: Oznur Cure Girdi, Türkiye
- W1 men: Jason Tabansky, USA
- W1 women: Chen Minyi, China (not competing)
Who’s competing?
These are the archers currently highest in the para world rankings arriving in Korea:
- Recurve men open: Harvinder Singh, India (world rank: 1)
- Recurve women open: Ziva Lavrinc, Slovenia (world rank: 1)
- Compound men open: Rakesh Kumar, India (world rank: 2)
- Compound women open: Nur Syahidah Alim, Singapore (world rank:1)
- W1 men: Jason Tabansky, USA (world rank: 1)
- W1 women: Sarka Pultar Musilova, Czechia (world rank: 1)
- Visually impaired 1: Christos Misos, Cyprus (world rank: 1)
- Visually impaired 2/3: Daniele Piran, Italy (world rank: 1)
By: World Archery
Published: 19 September 2025
