The Indian women's recurve archery team achieved a long-awaited success at the Asian Games. The trio, consisting of Ankita Bhakt, Kirti Sharma, and Kumkum Mohod, secured India's first gold medal in the women's recurve team event.
In the final, held on Friday (October 2), the Indian team faced a strong South Korean squad featuring reigning world champions Kang Chae-yang, Oh Ye-jin, and Lee Yoon-ji. Although the Korean delegation holds 10 Olympic gold medals, the Indian archers defeated them with a score of 5-3, creating a historic moment.
The competition took place amidst strong winds. The first two rounds were very tense, as both teams scored equally—54 and 56 points respectively, requiring point distribution in both cases. However, in the third round, the Korean team made a significant error, shooting three consecutive arrows for 8 points, which brought their total score to 52 points. Ankita, Kirti, and Kumkum managed to score 55 points, winning that set.
In the fourth round, Korea scored 54 points. Kirti started the round with 8 points, but her shot was later reviewed to 9 points, allowing India to reach a total score of 54 points. The round ended in a draw, and with this, India won the gold medal.
Before reaching the final, the Indian team defeated China with a score of 5-1 in the semi-finals. This victory marked India's first in the women's recurve team event at the Asian Games. Previously, at the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023, the Indian women's compound team won a bronze medal, but this time the recurve team surpassed that result by winning gold.
Kirti Sharma
Kirti Sharma is a recurve archer. Her training base is located at STC Hajharibagh. She was born on September 15, 2006, and hails from the state of Haryana. Kirti began practicing archery around 2019–20 during her school years because her school had a shooting range. Her interest in sports grew after observing senior players who were already training at school. Nevertheless, training was suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic, and she could not regularly attend the shooting range. After the pandemic, she resumed training. After about two years of training at the school level, in 2022, she joined the Sports Authority of India (SAI), and her preparation continued within the SAI high-performance system. Thanks to consistent results in national ranking tournaments and selection trials, she managed to make it into the starting women's recurve team. Her most notable achievement in her international career was winning a bronze medal at the Asian Championships in Thailand in 2026 in the women's recurve team event. Her achievements include: Bronze at the Asian Championships in Thailand 2026 (women's recurve type); Bronze at the 2026 Asian Grand Prix Series (team). In total, she has 1 medal in her international career—1 bronze.
Kumkum Mohod
Kumkum Annil Mohod is a recurve archer whose training base is at KIC Amaravati. She was born on March 10, 2009, and resides in the state of Maharashtra. Kumkum advanced in the country's competitive shooting system, reaching the national training level. Following consistent good performances in domestic ranking tournaments and selection trials, she made it into the starting Indian women's recurve team. Kumkum debuted on the international stage in 2025. Since then, she has represented India in various stages of the World Archery Championships and continental competitions. In her international career, she has two medals, both of which are gold, won in the team events at the 2026 World Championships. Her achievements: 2 gold medals at the 2026 World Championships (team). In total, she has 2 medals in her international career—2 golds.
Ankita Bhakt
Ankita Bhakt is the most experienced archer on this team. She was born on June 17, 1998, in Kolkata. Her training base is Tata Shooting Academy in Jamshedpur. Ankita started practicing archery at the Calcutta Shooting Club in Kolkata, and then in 2014, joined the Tata Shooting Academy and became one of the leading players on the Indian women's team. She debuted at the Asian Championships in 2016. Since then, she has represented India at the Asian Games, World Championships, World Archery Championships, and the Paris 2024 Olympics. At the Paris Olympics, Ankita placed fourth in the mixed team event, narrowly missing a medal. Now, thanks to the gold at the Asian Games, her achievements have been supplemented with another major victory. In her international career, Ankita has a total of 23 medals—9 gold, 4 silver, and 10 bronze.
The significance of the victory by Ankita Bhakt, Kirti Sharma, and Kumkum Mohod lies not only in the gold medal itself. It is India's first gold in the women's recurve team event at the Asian Games. The final was against ten-time Olympic champions from South Korea, and despite the strong wind, the Indian trio managed to win 5-3 under pressure. This is why this medal became a historic achievement for Indian archery.