Indian recurve archer Kumkum Mohod on Saturday won a gold medal in the women's individual recurve archery event at the Asian Games by defeating South Korea's Oh Yejin at the 2026 Asian Games. Teenager Kumkum Mohod kept her composure under pressure to clinch gold in the women's individual recurve event at the Asian Games, defeating South Korea's Oh Yejin in a shoot-out on Saturday.
Kumkum becomes first Indian woman to win Asian Games medal in individual recurve event
It is significant to note that with this victory, Kumkum became the first Indian woman to win an Asian Games medal in the individual recurve event. 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.
She 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
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. She 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. Then, she edged Zhu by a point in the final set to seal the victory.
Earlier in the day, she 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.
The gold medal capped a remarkable campaign for Kumkum, who had already won the women's recurve team gold and mixed team silver on Friday. Earlier, she had teamed up with Ankita Bhakat and Kirti Sharma to defeat South Korea 5-3 in the women's recurve team final, securing India's first-ever Asian Games medal in the event.
Later, she partnered Dhiraj Bommadevara to win silver in the mixed recurve team event after India lost 3-5 to China.
India's medal tally has reached 77, including 17 gold
Kumkum's individual campaign also included a 6-4 quarterfinal victory over South Korea's world and Olympic champion Kang Chaeyoung before she defeated China's world championship silver medallist Zhu Jingyi 6-2 in the semifinal.
Her gold also adds to India's only previous individual recurve medal at the Asian Games, Tarundeep Rai's silver at the 2010 Guangzhou Games, while becoming the country's first women's individual recurve medal at the continental event. With this individual gold medal of Kumkum, India's medal tally has reached 77, including 17 gold, 25 silver and 35 bronze medals, at the time of writing.
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