Nagoya, Oct 3: Teenager Kumkum Mohod kept her nerve when it mattered most, overcoming a string of formidable opponents to script history with India’s first-ever Asian Games individual recurve archery gold here on Saturday.
Kumkum sent the arrow into the 10-ring in the shoot-out to beat South Korea’s Oh Yejin 6-5 in the final and become the first Indian woman to win an Asian Games medal in the individual recurve event.
As the Indian flag rose and national anthem played after her victory, tears rolled down Kumkum’s face, the enormity of what she had achieved finally sinking in.
“I had faith in myself. The team supported me with a positive mindset,” Kumkum said after her win.
“When I won the gold medal (in the women’s team event) for the first time, I didn’t think about anything else. I just wanted to win. My target was to chase the gold medal. When I started improving I started dreaming big.”
The Maharashtra archer’s path to the top of the podium had been strewn with some of the biggest names in the sport. She defeated reigning world champion Kang Chaeyoung in the quarterfinal before getting past world championships silver medallist and former world No. 1 China’s Jingyi Zhu in the semifinal.
Tarundeep Rai, who won silver at Guangzhou 2010, remains the only other Indian to win an individual recurve medal at the Asian Games.
The final itself was a rollercoaster. Kumkum had a bad start, shooting an 8 to concede the opening set, but quickly settled herself to level the second before producing three 10s to take the third.
An 8 in the fourth set again put her under pressure, as Oh took the set. But the teenager once again responded with three 10s to force a shoot-out with the scores levelled at 5-5 (27-29 29-29 30-29 27-28 30-28)
In the shoot out, Oh shot an 8. Kumkum needed a 9 or better to win and she delivered a 10 under pressure, sealing a memorable victory.
The gold capped an extraordinary Games for Kumkum, who signed off with three medals, including two golds and a silver.
Kumkum won the women’s team recurve gold with Ankita Bhakat and Kirti Sharma before taking the mixed pair silver with Dhiraj Bommadevara on Friday.
“They are the result of a lot of hard work and effort that I put in the last months. I am also grateful and thankful to the team and also to the archery association of India and the sports authorities of India.”
Talking about her preparation she added “I visualise the whole process, from my stance to the small details of the process, the breaths that I take in between shots, preparing for the next shots. The results follow. It’s not the results that I visualise.”
Olympic quota
Kumkum’s run to the final also secured one of the two available quota places for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. The quota, as per the rules, belongs to the country.
It is an individual quota, with India yet to secure a team quota.
The selection trials, normally held about six months before the Olympics, will decide the Indian team for LA28. Kumkum must first finish among the top three in the federation trials to make the Indian team.
Earlier in the day, Kumkum defeated Zhu 6-2 in the semifinal, winning 28-27, 30-30, 29-29, 29-28.
She took the opening set with scores of 9, 10 and 9. Both archers then shot three 10s in the second set to share the points, while the third was also tied, leaving Kumkum with a 4-2 lead.
Kumkum edged Zhu by a point in the final set to seal her place in the gold medal match.
She had started the day with a 6-4 win over reigning world champion Kang Chaeyoung 6-4 in the quarterfinal. (PTI)
