Kumkum Mohod claims Asian Games recurve archery gold and Olympic quota for India

Key facts

• 17-year-old Kumkum Mohod won the women's recurve individual gold at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, becoming India's first Asian Games recurve gold medallist and earning an Olympic quota for the 2028 LA Olympics.
• She defeated reigning world champion Kang Chaeyoung 6-4 in the quarter-final, China's reigning world silver medallist Zhu Jingyi 6-2 in the semi-final, and 2023 world youth champion Oh Yejin in a shoot-off final, pinning the X in sudden death after Oh shot an 8.
• In the final, Kumkum won the fifth and decisive set from 5-3 down with a perfect 30 score.
• Kumkum is the first Indian woman medallist in individual recurve and India's only individual gold medallist archer at these Games.
• Indian archery won nine medals at the Games, pushing Korea to second place, with a best-ever five-medal recurve return capped by Neeraj Chauhan's men's individual bronze.
• Kumkum also won a women's team gold and a mixed team silver at the Games.
• She won a World Cup gold in Shanghai in May and reported for training the next afternoon despite reaching home only the previous night.
• Kumkum first picked up a wooden bow in 2021 at coach Prafull Dange's academy in Amravati and started recurve in 2023.