Kumkum Mohod at the Asian Games 2026
Women’s individual recurve: gold
Kumkum Mohod beat South Korea’s Kang Chaeyoung 6-3 in the quarter-finals and China’s Zhu Jingyi 6-2 in the semi-finals. In the final she trailed South Korea’s Oh Yejin 5-3 on set points after four sets, then shot a perfect 30 in the fifth set to level the match at 5-5. In the one-arrow shoot-off, Oh scored an 8 and Mohod a 10.
The gold was India’s first in the women’s individual recurve event at the Asian Games, and the result earned India a quota place for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. The quota belongs to the country, not to the archer.
Women’s recurve team: gold
With Ankita Bhakat and Kirti Sharma, Mohod beat South Korea 5-3 in the women’s recurve team final, India’s first Asian Games medal in that event.
Recurve mixed team: silver
Mohod and Dhiraj Bommadevara reached the mixed team final and lost 5-3 to China.
Archery was India’s most successful sport at these Games. See India at Asian Games 2026 for every Indian medal.
Kumkum Mohod’s career highlights
- 2018: took up archery at the Radhey Archery Academy in Amravati
- 2026, Archery World Cup, Shanghai: gold, women’s recurve team
- 2026, Archery World Cup, Antalya: gold, recurve mixed team with Dhiraj Bommadevara, beating South Korea in the final
- 2026, Asian Games, Aichi-Nagoya: gold, women’s individual recurve; gold, women’s recurve team; silver, recurve mixed team
From Amravati to the world stage
Mohod was born on 10 March 2009 and grew up in Amravati, Maharashtra. She started archery in 2018, when she was in Class 4, after her mother Rupali saw a relative’s daughter training and encouraged her to try the sport. She has trained under coach Prafull Dange at the Radhey Archery Academy in Amravati, and her family first bought her a wooden bow costing around Rs 3,000.
Her rise in 2026 was rapid. She made her World Cup debut in Puebla, won team gold at the Shanghai stage and mixed team gold in Antalya, and then won three medals on her Asian Games debut.
What next for Kumkum Mohod
At 17, Mohod already has Asian Games and World Cup gold medals. India’s quota place for Los Angeles 2028 gives her a clear target, although India’s selection process will decide which archer fills it.
Updated 9 October 2026. Sources: The Week, Open Magazine, India Sports Hub, and Wikipedia.
