India continued its strong showing at the Asian Games as the women’s recurve archery team created history by winning the country’s first-ever gold medal in the event.
Ankita Bhakat, Kirti Sharma and 17-year-old Kumkum Mohod delivered a composed performance in challenging windy conditions to defeat 10-time Olympic champions South Korea 5-3 in the final on Friday.
The Indian trio maintained their focus despite the difficult conditions and held their nerve against the reigning champions to secure a landmark victory.
The triumph further underlined the progress of Indian women’s recurve archery. The team had ended a five-year wait for a World Cup gold medal in May in Shanghai, where it also defeated South Korea in the semi-final before claiming the title.
The Indian combination in Nagoya was almost the same as the one that won in Shanghai. Kirti replaced former world No. 1 Deepika Kumari, who did not qualify for the Asian Games through the selection trials.
The opening two sets were closely contested, with both teams finishing on 54 and 56 points respectively. Neither side was able to establish an early advantage.
South Korea’s Oh Ye-jin and Lee Eun-ji then made mistakes in the third set, dropping three consecutive 8s and finishing with 52 points. India capitalised on the opportunity, scoring 55 to take the set and move 4-2 ahead.
South Korea responded with 54 points in the fourth set. Kirti initially opened with an 8, but after a review, her arrow was upgraded to a 9, taking India’s total to 54.
With the scores level, the result was enough for India to complete a historic victory over the strong South Korean trio and claim the gold medal.
India had earlier defeated China 5-1 in the semi-final to reach the Asian Games final for the first time.
The women’s recurve gold is India’s fourth archery gold medal at these Games. It follows titles won by the men’s compound, women’s compound and mixed compound teams.
The Indian women’s recurve team had won a bronze medal at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou.