Fearless India stun Korea again, Dhiraj-Kumkum win mixed team gold
Indian recurve archers Dhiraj Bommadevara and teenage sensation Kumkum Mohod produced a flawless performance to defeat Olympic champions South Korea 5-1, clinching the historic recurve mixed team gold medal at the Archery World Cup Stage 3 in Antalya
Antalya: Indian recurve archers continued their resurgence on the world stage, with Olympian Dhiraj Bommadevara and teenager Kumkum Mohod producing a fearless display to upset Olympic champions South Korea and clinch the recurve mixed team gold at the Archery World Cup Stage 3, here on Sunday.
The Indian pair defeated Kim Je-deok and Oh Ye-jin 5-1 (37-36, 37-36, 39-39) in a high-quality final, showing remarkable composure and intent against one of the most decorated teams in world archery.
Displaying maturity beyond her age, the 17-year-old Kumkum said she focused on the process rather than the opposition.
“I believed in myself completely. I just focused on the process and didn’t think about who was standing in front of me,” she said.
“I think I shot better today than I did in Shanghai. But definitely that gold medal there gave me a lot of confidence.”
The victory marked India’s second triumph over South Korea in as many months and underlined the growing confidence within the recurve setup in the build-up to the Asian Games in three months’ time.
At the Shanghai World Cup last month, the women’s trio of Deepika Kumari, Kumkum and Ankita Bhakat had stunned the record 10-time Olympic champions in the semifinals en route to gold.
For Dhiraj, 24, and 17-year-old Kumkum, there was no trace of intimidation against a Korean side featuring Kim, the Tokyo Olympics mixed team gold medallist alongside An San and a member of South Korea’s Paris Olympics gold-winning men’s team.
Dhiraj and Kumkum, who made her World Cup debut only this season, held their nerve throughout the contest, matching the Koreans arrow for arrow before producing the decisive shots under pressure.
Paris Olympian Dhiraj, India’s highest-ranked recurve archer at world No. 16, capped the victory in style by shooting a perfect 10 in the final arrow of the match.
Overall the duo shot three 10s each; while Kumkum shot three 9s, Dhiraj shot two and once he shot into 8-ring, that summed up their team bonding.
It was the first World Cup mixed team gold for both archers.
Dhiraj, who had previously won mixed team bronze medals with Ankita Bhakat in 2024 and Bhajan Kaur in 2025, finally completed his collection with a long-awaited gold.
Fearless Kumkum
Kumkum, meanwhile, secured back-to-back World Cup gold medals after being part of India’s women’s recurve team that triumphed in Shanghai, where she had shot the winning arrow in a shoot-off against China.
India’s last recurve mixed team gold at a World Cup stage had incidentally also come in Antalya in 2022, when Ridhi Phor and Tarundeep Rai had defeated Great Britain’s Bryony Pitman and Alex Wise in a shoot-off.
Indians mounted early pressure in the final after heavyweight Kim opened with a surprising seven and Oh followed with a nine as Korea managed 16 from their first two arrows.
Kumkum responded with a solid nine before Dhiraj shot an eight, giving India a one-point edge midway through the opening set.
The Koreans recovered through a 10 from Kim and a nine from Oh to post 35.
Kumkum then shot a nine and Dhiraj a 10 for a provisional 36.
A subsequent measurement upgraded Kumkum’s arrow from nine to 10, while Kim’s opening arrow was revised to eight, handing India the set 37-36 and a 2-0 lead.
