Kumkum Mohod wins women’s individual recurve gold at Asian Games 2026 in Aichi-Nagoya

Kumkum Mohod beat South Korea’s Oh Yejin in a shoot-off to win the women’s individual recurve gold at the Asian Games 2026 in Aichi-Nagoya on 3 October. The contest was decided by a single-arrow shoot-off after the match finished level on set points.

The 17-year-old, born on 10 March 2009 in Maharashtra, became the first Indian woman to claim the women’s individual recurve title at the Asian Games. India had not previously won gold in this event at the Asian Games, and Mohod’s victory was the country’s fifth archery gold at these Games. She made her major international debut at the 2025 Asia Cup in Bangkok.

The final began in Oh Yejin’s favour as she took the opening set 29-27, leaving Mohod 0-2 down on set points. In the second set both archers scored 29, reducing Mohod’s deficit to 1-3. Mohod produced her best shooting in the third set, scoring 30 to Oh’s 29 to level the match at 3-3.

The fourth set went to Oh after Mohod shot an eight and lost 27-28, which put Mohod 3-5 behind on set points. Mohod responded in the fifth set with a 30 to Oh’s 28 to draw the match level at 5-5, forcing a shoot-off. In the one-arrow shoot-off Oh scored an 8 and Mohod hit a 10, giving Mohod a 6-5 victory in the final.

Mohod added this individual gold to the team recurve title she won on October 2 alongside Ankita Bhakat and Kirti Sharma. Her mixed team result at the Games produced a silver, which was India’s first silver in archery at this edition.

Earlier in the year Mohod was part of the World Cup team that won gold in Shanghai in May, beating China in the final, and she followed that with a mixed team gold in Antalya a month later, beating South Korea. Her highest world ranking is 50 and her personal best score is 671.

The gold medal in Aichi-Nagoya secured an individual quota place for India at the LA Olympics 2028. Mohod finished the Asian Games with two golds and one silver.