Asian Games 2026: Ice-cool Kumkum strikes historic recurve gold, earns Olympic quota

After the scores were tied at 5-5, Kumkum shot a 10 in the shoot out, while Oh managed an 8 to hand the Indian the gold medal on October 3, 2026 | Photo Credit: Reuters Teenager Kumkum Mohod kept her composure under pressure to clinch gold in the women’s individual recurve event at the Asian Games, defeating South Korea’s Oh Yejin in a shoot-out on Saturday (Occtober 3, 2026).With the victory, Kumkum became the first Indian woman to win an Asian Games medal in the individual recurve event.Keep track | Asian Games 2026 LIVE: Archer Kumkum wins historic recurve gold at Asian Games, earns Olympic quotaAfter the scores were tied at 5-5, Kumkum shot a 10 in the shoot out, while Oh managed an 8 to hand the Indian the gold medal. Kumkum had also secured an Olympic quota place for India by reaching the semifinals, defeating China’s Jingyi Zhu 6-2.Kumkum secured one of the two available quota places for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. The quota, as per the rules, belongs to the country.Kumkum defeated Zhu 28-27, 30-30, 29-29, 29-28 to become the first Indian recurve archer to win a medal in the women’s individual event, assuring herself of at least a silver medal.Kumkum took the opening set with scores of 9, 10 and 9.In the second set, both archers shot three 10s to share the points. The third set was also tied, leaving Kumkum with a 4-2 lead. Kumkum then edged Zhu by a point in the final set to seal the victory.Earlier in the day, Kumkum dispatched reigning world champion Kang Chaeyoung 6-4 in the quarterfinal.Kumkum had won the women’s team recurve gold with Ankita Bhakat and Kirti Sharma before taking the mixed pair silver with Dhiraj Bommadevara on Friday (October 2). Published - October 03, 2026 08:19 am IST