India upset South Korea to win women's recurve gold as men's and mixed recurve take silver at Asian Games
India's women's recurve team of Ankita Bhakat, Kirti Sharma and 17-year-old Kumkum Anil Mohod defeated 10-time Olympic champions South Korea to win gold in the recurve team event at the Asian Games in Nagoya on October 2, 2026; India's men's recurve and mixed recurve combos took silver the same day.
The day's results followed a clean sweep by India's compound archers in all team competitions and continued an upward run for the recurve squad that had won a World Cup gold in Shanghai in May. Kirti Sharma was part of the lineup here after replacing former world number one Deepika Kumari, who failed to qualify through the selection trials; the women's recurve side had previously taken bronze at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou.
In gusty conditions the women's final was tightly contested before India prevailed 5-3 (54-54, 56-56, 55-51, 54-54) over a Korean team featuring Tokyo Olympics gold-medallist Kang Chaeyoung alongside Oh Yejin and Lee Yunji. Korea faltered in the third set, shooting three consecutive 8s, while India shot 55 to seize that set and move 4-2 ahead; in the fourth set Kirti began with an 8 that was upgraded to a 9 on review, taking India's score to 54 and securing the set and the title.
"We are feeling really good right now, winning gold. This medal is not only for us but our country too, which makes it even sweeter," Kirti said. "Going into the final we were aware that we would have to perform at our very best, we were not talking about it's China, or Korea, or anything like that, we were just focusing on our aim, what we have to do. And we have done that so we are very happy." Ankita added: "We are training very hard, so that's why we are here now and winning medals. We took bronze in Hangzhou, and we wanted to change the medal colour this time."
Kumkum then paired with Dhiraj Bommadevara to finish runner-up in the mixed recurve event, losing 3-5 to China in the final (34-38, 35-37, 37-36, 37-37). Kumkum took only one 10 in the final while China's Mengqi Li shot five 10s; earlier the Indian duo had reached the final by edging Japan 5-3 after dropping the opening set 37-38, recovering to level the match and then winning the fourth set 37-35 after Japan shot a costly 7 to seal India's first-ever Asian Games final appearance in the recurve mixed team event.
The men's recurve trio of Dhiraj Bommadevara, Sanjay Bhoge and Neeraj Chauhan secured silver after a 1-5 loss to Korea (56-56, 50-57, 54-56). The Indians started strongly and the first set was tied after Korea began with an 8, but Korea's second set featured 10s from their first three arrows while the Indians failed to register a single 10; the final set slipped away after Neeraj's 7 on the fourth arrow. "We thought if there is wind it's the same for everyone, so we decided to focus on what we need to do and the communication between us. Given the circumstances, we really gave it our best," Bommadevara said. "Maybe there are some flaws in our training, things that we need to iron out. So we can go and work on those and I think that will make us even stronger," Neeraj later said. The Indians had reached the men's final by beating Iran 6-0 in the semifinals.
India have so far won seven medals in archery at these Games — four gold, two silver and one bronze — with the women's recurve gold accounting for the fourth team title after the men's compound, women's compound and mixed compound wins; teenager Kumkum Anil Mohod finished the day with two medals.
