India women win historic recurve archery gold

Nagoya India’s women’s recurve archery team created history at the Asian Games on Friday, defeating the Republic of Korea 5-3 to win the country’s first-ever gold medal in the event. Ankita Bhakat, Kirti Sharma and 17-year-old Kumkum Mohod overcame the reigning champions at the Okazaki Chuo Sogo Park Multipurpose Square, ending South Korea’s seven successive women’s team titles dating back to the 1998 Bangkok Games. The Korean team included Olympic team gold medallist and reigning individual world champion Kang Chae-young, along with Lee Yunji and Oh Yejin. The final was closely contested, with both teams drawing the opening two sets 54-54 and 56-56. India then produced a decisive third set, scoring 55 against South Korea’s 51 to move 4-2 ahead. South Korea scored 54 in the fourth set, but Kumkum’s final arrow landed a 10, helping India match the score and secure the gold. India had qualified sixth with 1,962 points. The team then defeated Mongolia 6-0 and Chinese Taipei 6-0 before beating China 5-1 in the semi-final. Earlier, Kumkum and Dhiraj Bommadevara won silver in the mixed recurve team event after losing 5-3 to China’s Zhu Jingyi and Li Mengqi. China won the first two sets 38-34 and 37-35 before India took the third 37-36. The fourth ended 37-37, giving China the title. The result meant India missed the mixed-team opportunity to secure one of the men’s and women’s recurve quota places available for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics. India also claimed silver in the men’s recurve team event. Dhiraj, Neeraj Chauhan and Yashdeep Bhoge lost 5-1 to South Korea in the final. India had beaten the Philippines, China and Iran on its way to the final. India will have further opportunities for Olympic quota places in the individual recurve events, with Kumkum, Dhiraj and Neeraj competing in the quarter-finals on Saturday. India had already secured a compound mixed-team quota through Chikitha Taniparthi and Sahil Jadhav.