The long wait for Odisha to win a medal at the Senior National Archery Championship ended yesterday when Arjun Khara bagged the bronze medal in the mens recurve ranking round at the Parade Ground in Shillong, Meghalaya.

This was, most probably, the first Senior National medal for Odisha in 23 years. Rajesh Hasdak was the last Odisha archer to secure a Senior National medal (silver) in 2003. The legendary Hasdak, who also bagged Senior National gold and many international medals, passed away earlier this year. 

Arjun finished third in the ranking round, scoring 674 points at the 33rd edition of the Senior National Archery Championship, which commenced on November 11. He also qualified for the Olympic round, which is set to take place on November 15. Arjun will compete against top archers of the country and hopes to win a medal in the Olympic round as well.

The 23-year Arjun hails from Malkangiri district and trains at the Odisha-Tata Archery High Performance Centre, located at Sankarpur in Keonjhar. He has been winning National medals for Odisha since 2014.

Arjun captured one gold and two silver medals at the 1st Khelo India Tribal Games at Raipur, Chhattisgarh earlier this year. In the Mini National Archery Championships he bagged three silver and one bronze medals between 2014 and 2016.

Odisha Archery Association president Gokul Chandra Pati and secretary Samurnananda Das congratulated Arjun for his remarkable achievement and wished him more success in the future.
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PHOTO: Odisha archer Arjun Khara poses with his bronze medal at the Senior National Championship in Shillong on 12 November 2026.