Kumkum Anil Mohod, Dhiraj Bommadevara win silver in Asian Games mixed team recurve, India's first

Indian archers Dhiraj Bommadevara and Kumkum Anil Mohod made history in the mixed team recurve event at the Asian Games 2026. The pair reached the final and won the silver medal. In the gold-medal match, India lost 3-5 to China.

The mixed team recurve event has been held at the Asian Games since 2018. India had not won a medal in it at either the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Games or the 2022 Hangzhou Games. The silver won by Dhiraj and Kumkum is therefore India's first Asian Games medal in this event.

In the final, Kumkum and Dhiraj did not perform as expected in the first two sets. The Chinese pair won the first set 38-37 to take a 2-0 lead. The Indian pair made a strong comeback in the second set, but it ended level at 37-37 and China stayed ahead 2-0.

The Chinese pair won the third set 37-36 to add two more points. The fourth set was also tied at 37-37, and India lost the match 5-3. The pair had to settle for silver.

It was a special day for 17-year-old Kumkum Anil Mohod. Earlier the same day, she had won gold in the women's recurve team event. In that contest, the Indian women's team faced Olympic champions South Korea.

The earlier results in the mixed team recurve event are also worth noting. At Jakarta-Palembang in 2018, Japan won gold, North Korea silver and China bronze. At Hangzhou in 2022, South Korea took gold, Japan silver and Indonesia bronze. In 2026, China won gold and India silver.

With this silver, India's total archery medals at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games have risen to six. They include four gold, one silver and one bronze.