Indian Women Stun South Korea to Claim Historic Archery Gold at Asian Games

UPDATE - follow-up to Asian Games 2026 LIVE Updates, Day 14: India's women's hockey team, boxers in gold medal bouts: The women's recurve archery team of Ankita Bhakat, Kumkum Anil Mohod and Kirti Sharma secured a historic gold medal by defeating South Korea in the final. The South Korean team are 10-time Olympic champions and 10-time Asian Games champions who had not lost an Asian Games final since the 1970s. The Indian team had never reached an Asian Games final before, previously winning two bronze medals. This victory pushed the Indian contingent ahead of Bahrain into seventh spot in the medals standings.

Semi-Finals And Other Events

The Indian mixed recurve team of Kumkum Mohod and Dhiraj Dommadevara entered the final with a come-from-behind 5-3 win over Japan in the semi-finals. The winning team in this event also secures an Olympic quota. Meanwhile, the Indian men's volleyball team defeated world-ranked 25 South Korea 3-1 with set scores of 25-16, 25-20, 23-25 and 25-23 in a 5th-8th qualification match. In wrestling, Sujeet Kalkal overcame an early 0-3 deficit against Afghan wrestler Sazai to win 9-3 in the first period and reach the quarter-finals in the 65kg weight class, while Dipanshi lost her 50kg pre-quarterfinal bout to Yui Susaki without scoring a point, though a repechage chance for bronze remains.

Context

Archery events at major multi-sport competitions like the Asian Games test extreme precision and consistency under pressure. Winning against historically dominant teams marks a notable shift in competitive standings.