Indian women's recurve archery team wins historic gold; Men's & mixed combos claim silver

NAGOYA: The women's recurve team's stunning win over 10-time Olympic champions South Korea for a historic gold headlined a highly productive day for India in the Asian Games archery competition where the men's recurve and mixed recurve squads signed off with commendable silver medals.

The strong recurve performance comes after the compound archers completed a golden sweep in all the team competitions.

India have so far secured seven medals, including four gold, two silver and a bronze, in the archery event here.

The first medal of the day for the Indian contingent came via the women's recurve trio of Ankita Bhakat, Kirti Sharma and 17-year-old Kumkum Mohod, who held their nerve in challenging windy conditions to outshoot the defending champions 5-3 (54-54, 56-56, 55-51, 54-54) and script a memorable triumph.

Kumkum then returned to the range with Dhiraj Bommadevara and combined for a silver medal in the mixed recurve team event, with the Indian duo going down 3-5 (34-38, 35-37, 37-36, 37-37) to China in the final.

The day ended with the men's recurve combination of Bommadevara, Sanjay Bhoge and Neeraj Chauhan settling for a silver following a 1-5 loss (56-56, 50-57, 54-56) to Korea.

Women's recurve team ends gold drought

The women's triumph capped an upward curve for the Indian recurve team, which had ended a five-year wait for a World Cup gold in Shanghai in May by defeating Korea in the semifinals en route to the title.

It was largely the same combination that that competed here, with Kirti replacing former world number one Deepika Kumari, who failed to qualify for the Asian Games through the selection trials.

"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."

The opening two sets were tightly contested, with both teams finishing level at 54 and 56 points respectively in challenging windy conditions.

Korea, featuring Tokyo Olympics gold-medallist Kang Chaeyoung alongside Oh Yejin and Lee Yunji, then faltered in the third set, shooting three consecutive 8s to finish with 52 points.

India seized the opening, shooting 55 to take the set and move 4-2 ahead. With the gold within reach, Korea responded with 54 in the fourth set. Kirti began with an 8, but the arrow was upgraded to a 9 after review, taking India's score to 54 and levelling the set.

That was enough for India to secure the set and complete a landmark victory over the defending champions.

The women's recurve gold is India's fourth in archery at these Games, following titles for the men's compound, women's compound and mixed compound teams.

The Indian women's recurve team had won bronze at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou.

"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," Ankita said.

Silver in mixed team

Teenager Kumkum bagged her second medal of the day as she and Bommadevara bagged the mixed team silver.

Kumkum who had been in sensational form throughout the day, could not quite reproduce her best in the mixed team final. She managed just one 10, while a string of 8s and a 7 allowed China's Mengqi Li, who shot five 10s, to make the difference.

Kumkum and Bommadevara had earlier stormed into the mixed recurve final by edging past Japan 5-3.

The Indian pair made a slow start, dropping the opening set 37-38, but gradually found their rhythm to share the second before taking the third and drawing level at 3-3.

Bommadevara and Kumkum then capitalised on a costly 7 from Japan to win the fourth set 37-35 and seal India's first-ever Asian Games final berth in the recurve mixed team event.

Silver in men's recurve

The troika of Bommadevara, Bhoge and Chauhan started strongly after an early fumble by Korea but could not hold on to the advantage.

The first set, in which the Indians had the edge after Korea started with an 8, was tied.

The Korean team of Lee Woo-seok, Kim Je-deok and Kim Woo-jin then took the second set after striking 10s with their first three arrows. The Indians sprayed their shots all over the target board, failing to fetch a single 10 in the second set.

"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.

The last set slipped out of India's grasp decisively after Neeraj's 7 from the fourth arrow.

"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 made the final after beating Iran 6-0 in the last-four-stage.