How Kumkum Mohod beat best in world to win historic archery gold in Asiad

Kumkum became India's first-ever recurve archer to win an individual Asian Games title. (Reuters/X)

Seventeen-year-old Kukum Mohod didn’t blink in the crunch. Up against former World Youth Champion Oh Yejin of Korea in the final, Kumkum won 6-5 via a shoot-off to become India’s first-ever recurve archer to win an Asian Games title.

Her WhatsApp display picture is a sketch with the caption: ‘My target is the Olympics  and my dream also. And one day, I will complete this dream’. Her sketch speaks volumes about her ambition. After the historic medal at the Asian Games, which also secured an Olympic quota, the sky is the limit for her.

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Her path to gold is impressive. She edged out Kang Chae-young, Tokyo Olympics women’s team gold medallist and reigning world champion in the quarter-final, then beat China’s Zhu Jingyi in the semis to enter the finals. She is a self-confessed fan of Chae-young but when it mattered she didn’t get overawed.

Small changes made a big difference. “The last few months I worked on my strength as well as the bow-hand release. I am going to my first Asian Games but I have the belief that I can win there and shoot my best to win the title,” Kumkum had told The Indian Express.

Father Anil Mohod runs a sweet box making business in Amravati. He was glued to TV on Saturday morning, watching his daughter win the gold for India. “Kumkum’s biggest strength has been her mental resilience. She shot with a second-hand bow for a good part of the last five years. We would travel in sleeper class trains and buses for the tournaments. She would never complain. Yesterday, when she won the team gold, she sent us a picture of her with the gold medal and today will also be the same,” Anil said.

Kumkum Mohod’s parents Anil Manohar Mohod and Rupali Mohod celebrate the gold medal at thier home in Amravati. (Special Arrangement)

The youngster made her debut for India last year in the Asia Cup.

At the World Cup Stage 2 in Shanghai in May, she paired up with four-time Olympian Deepika Kumari and Ankita Bhakat for a win via shoot-off against the Chinese team of World No.3 Zhu Jingyi, Huang Yuwei and You Qi. The team gold was India’s first since 2021. Days later, the Maharashtra youngster would make it to the Indian team for the Asian Games along with Ankita Bhakat and Kirti Sharma. At the trials in Sonepat, she topped qualification, won six matches in the second stage and finished second behind Kirti Sharma. Four-time Olympian Deepika Kumari finished fourth and missed the Asian Games berth.

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“We all idolise Deepika didi. We don’t think like we have edged her out or something like that. We focus on our shooting and process. The initial two years in archery were tough for me. I had shot with a wooden arrow in Indian round for four years and starting with the full recurve bow took a lot of time to adjust. I would do pulling and bow draw only for many months before I shot the arrows at the distance,” Kumkum had shared.

The Indian was trailing Korean Oh Yejin 1-3 in the final before she made a comeback to tie the match 3-3. With the Korean winning the next net, Kumkum was once again trailing 3-5 in the match before she won the next set to once again tie the match 5-5. In the shoot-off, the Korean shot an eight followed by Kumkum hitting a ten and winning the Asian games title.

In her comeback, Kumkum had shot six consecutive arrows of ten and hit a total of 11 shots of ten each to win the title.

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Manifesting Asian Games 

The youngster had also spoken about how she had last year manifested that she will be going to the Asian Games. “At my hometown, there is a big function on Janmashtami celebrations. I have never missed that. I had manifested that next year’s Janmashtami festival, I will not be there in Amravati and will be in an Indian camp for training for Asian Games,” Kumkum had shared.

Her coach Prafull Dange too was following the final at Radhey Archery Academy in Amravati, where Kumkum first came to train under him. “Her shoulder strength was good to take load off the bow. But we started with less poundage of the bow so as to first teach her to handle the bow with ease. Normally archers also don’t try short distance shooting but then she was never shy to shoot short distance. The tension and the strength required to shoot short distances helped her gain the shoulder strength as well maintain back tension,” Dange said.

Dange also speaks how his trainee works on her mental strength as well her confidence. “Kumkum spends a lot of time on visualisation as well as her mental strength. She reads the book ‘The Power of Subconscious Mind’ as well Marathi book ‘Vichar Niyam’, a book on positive thoughts. She has never seen the Koreans or other archers as somebody to be fearful of. Post her women’s team gold on Friday, she told me, Podium Gaajavanaaraa (I will perform grandly on the podium). And she had kept her word today,” Dange said.

Nitin Sharma is an Assistant Editor with the sports team of The Indian Express. Based out of Chandigarh, Nitin works with the print sports desk while also breaking news stories for the online sports team. A Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award recipient for the year 2017 for his story ‘Harmans of Moga’, Nitin has also been a three-time recipient of the UNFPA-supported Laadli Media Awards for Gender Sensitivity for the years 2022, 2023 and 2024 respectively. His latest Laadli Award, in November 2025, came for an article on Deepthi Jeevanji, who won India’s first gold medal at the World Athletics Para Championship and was taunted for her unusual features as a child. Nitin mainly covers Olympics sports disciplines with his main interests in shooting, boxing, wrestling, athletics and much more. The last 17 years with The Indian Express has seen him unearthing stories across India from as far as Andaman and Nicobar to the North East. Nitin also covers cricket apart from women’s cricket with a keen interest. Nitin has covered events like the 2010 Commonwealth Games, the 2011 ODI World Cup, 2016 T20 World Cup and the 2017 AIBA World Youth Boxing Championships. An alumnus of School of Communication Studies, Panjab University, from where he completed his Masters in Mass Communications degree, Nitin has been an avid quizzer too. A Guru Nanak Dev University Colour holder, Nitin’s interest in quizzing began in the town of Talwara Township, a small town near the Punjab-Himachal Pradesh border. When not reporting, Nitin's interests lie in discovering new treks in the mountains or spending time near the river Beas at his hometown. ... Read More