Asian Games 2026: Kumkum Mohod wins India’s 1st ever recurve individual gold medal, earns Olympic quota

Teenager Kumkum Mohod held her nerve under pressure to win gold and become the first Indian woman to win an Asian Games medal in the individual recurve event. Kumkum beat South Korea’s Oh Yejin in a shoot-off on Saturday.

After the scores were tied at 5-5, Kumkum shot a 10 in the shoot out, while Oh managed an 8 to hand the Indian the gold medal.

Kumkum had also secured an Olympic quota place for India by reaching the semifinals, defeating China’s Jingyi Zhu 6-2.

Kumkum secured one of the two available quota places for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. The quota, as per the rules, belongs to the country.

Kumkum defeated Zhu 28-27, 30-30, 29-29, 29-28 to become the first Indian recurve archer to win a medal in the women’s individual event, assuring herself of at least a silver medal.

Kumkum took the opening set with scores of 9, 10 and 9. In the second set, both archers shot three 10s to share the points. The third set was also tied, leaving Kumkum with a 4-2 lead.

Kumkum then edged Zhu by a point in the final set to seal the victory.

Earlier in the day, Kumkum dispatched reigning world champion Kang Chaeyoung 6-4 in the quarterfinal.

Kumkum had won the women’s team recurve gold with Ankita Bhakat and Kirti Sharma before taking the mixed pair silver with Dhiraj Bommadevara on Friday.

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