Asian Games 2026: Five golds, historic breakthroughs make archery one of India’s standout campaigns

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–> Asian Games 2026: Five golds, historic breakthroughs make archery one of India’s standout campaigns ANI | Updated: Oct 04, 2026 14:44 IST

Join our Whatsapp channel Aichi-Nagoya [Japan], October 4 (ANI): Five gold medals, nine podium finishes and a series of historic milestones made archery one of the standout disciplines for India at the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, with the country’s young recurve archery star Kumkum Mohod emerging as the face of a campaign that also delivered success across compound events.Indian archers finished with nine medals from 10 events — five gold, two silver and two bronze — matching their record medal haul from Hangzhou 2023 and making archery the most successful medal-winning discipline in terms of golds at the Games, according to Olympics.com.The campaign was highlighted by 17-year-old Kumkum, who became the first Indian to win an individual recurve gold at the Asian Games and also secured a women’s recurve quota place for the LA 2028 Olympic Games.The teenager from Amravati defeated Republic of Korea’s Oh Yejin in a dramatic shoot-off after their gold-medal contest ended level at 5-5.With the pressure at its peak, Oh shot an eight in the shoot-off before Kumkum responded with a 10 to claim the title.The triumph also marked a landmark moment for Indian recurve archery. Before Kumkum, Tarundeep Rai’s silver at Guangzhou 2010 was the only Indian medal in the individual recurve event at the Asian Games.Kumkum’s gold was also the culmination of a remarkable campaign in which she collected three medals. She had earlier helped India win gold in the women’s recurve team event and then partnered Dhiraj Bommadevara to a silver in the mixed recurve team event.Her path to individual gold was equally impressive. Kumkum defeated South Korea’s reigning world champion and Olympic medallist Kang Chaeyoung 6-3 in the quarter-finals before beating China’s Zhu Jingyi 6-2 in the semi-finals.In the final, the Korean archer took the opening set 29-27 before the second was tied 29-29. Kumkum produced a perfect 30 in the third set but trailed 5-3 after losing the fourth.With her title hopes on the line, she delivered another perfect 30 in the fifth set to force the shoot-off and then held her nerve to shoot 10 and seal the gold.By reaching the individual final, Kumkum also helped India secure the women’s recurve quota for LA 2028. The finalists in the men’s and women’s individual recurve events at Aichi-Nagoya earned one Olympic quota place each for their respective countries, subject to selection by their National Olympic Committee.India’s men’s recurve campaign also produced a medal, although the country missed out on both available men’s individual Olympic quota places.World No. 1 Dhiraj Bommadevara, who topped the qualification round, lost 7-3 to South Korea’s Lee Wooseok in the semi-finals, while Neeraj Chauhan was beaten 7-1 by Japan’s Junya Nakanishi.The two Indians then faced each other in the bronze-medal contest, with Neeraj prevailing after a tense finish.After Dhiraj opened the final rotation with an eight, Neeraj responded with a 10 and carried a one-point advantage into the final arrow. Dhiraj finished with a 10, but Neeraj matched it to secure bronze.Dhiraj had earlier defeated Uzbekistan’s Amirkhon Sadikov 6-2 in the quarter-finals, while Neeraj overcame Bhutan’s Lam Dorji 7-1.The performances meant India won medals in all five recurve events at Aichi-Nagoya — two gold, two silver and one bronze — underlining the country’s growing strength in the discipline.The compound archers added further gloss to the campaign, contributing three team gold medals and an individual bronze.Chikitha Taniparthi was at the centre of India’s compound success, winning two historic gold medals.Chikitha was part of the women’s compound team alongside Jyothi Vennam and Prithika Pradeep, which defeated China 238-234 in the final. The Indian trio also matched the world record in their gold-medal performance.Chikitha then combined with Sahil Jadhav in the mixed team event to secure another gold, defeating South Korea in the final and earning India a historic LA 2028 Olympic quota place in the compound mixed team event.The compound campaign also featured another medal in the men’s individual event, while the women’s individual compound competition remained the only archery event at Aichi-Nagoya in which India did not finish on the podium.India’s five archery gold medals were the most won by any individual sport or discipline at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, underlining the depth of the country’s performances across both recurve and compound formats.The nine-medal haul — five gold, two silver and two bronze — also matched India’s record from Hangzhou 2023.The campaign represented a strong continuation of India’s rise in Asian archery, with established names and teenagers contributing to a medal tally that combined Olympic qualification, individual breakthroughs and team dominance.Kumkum’s historic recurve title and LA 2028 quota stood out as the defining moment, while Chikitha’s double compound gold and India’s success across the team events demonstrated the country’s strength beyond the traditional recurve format.With medals in all five recurve events, three compound team golds and nine podium finishes overall, Indian archery emerged from Aichi-Nagoya with both an impressive medal haul and several indicators of a promising Olympic cycle ahead. (ANI)