Who is Kumkum Mohod? Meet the 17-year-old who clinched historic Asian Games recurve gold and secured India’s LA 2028 ticket

The victory capped off a fabulous Asian Games campaign for Kumkum Mohod, who heads home with three medals to her name

Kumkum Mohod on Sunday created history by becoming the first Indian woman to win an individual gold in recurve archery, as she beat South Korea’s Oh Yejin in a thrilling finale at the Okazaki Chuo Sogo Park Multipurpose Square, which went down to a shoot-off.

Kumkum Mohod won women's recurve individual gold (REUTERS)

Kumkum, on her Asian Games debut, turned heads early on Day 15 in Aichi-Nagoya when she disposed of world and Olympic champion Kang Chaeyoung in the quarterfinals. And she didn’t stop there. Her giant-killing spree extended into the semifinal, where she beat world championship silver medallist Zhu Jingyi of China.

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In the final, the 17-year-old found herself trailing 0-2 after the opening set and was 1-3 down after two, but fought against the odds to level the score at 3-3. Oh Yejin once again secured a 5-3 lead after the fourth set, but a perfect 30-28 in the final set forced a shoot-off. With one arrow deciding the fate, the Indian held her nerve to produce a 10, as against the South Korean’s horror eight, to clinch the historic gold.

The victory capped off a fabulous Asian Games campaign for Kumkum, who heads home with three medals to her name — an individual gold, a team gold, and a mixed-team silver. On Sunday, India also secured a berth in the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics in the women’s individual recurve event.

Who is Kumkum Mohod, India's newest archery sensation?

Hailing from Amravati, Maharashtra, Kumkum was introduced to recurve archery only three years ago but took to the sport like a fish to water, rapidly progressing through the domestic structure before earning a place in the Indian national team following trials.

Earlier this year, she made her international debut and soon made an impression on the Archery World Cup circuit, where she teamed up with Olympians Deepika Kumari and Ankita Bhakat to win India’s first women’s recurve team gold in the event since 2021. She did so using a five-year-old second-hand bow she had purchased in 2021. She subsequently earned a place in the country’s Asian Games 2026 squad.

Incidentally, Kumkum had starred in India’s win over South Korea in the semifinals of the World Cup,a tie that featured Chaeyoung.

Away from the range, Kumkum maintains a low profile on social media and has, in fact, deleted all such apps from her mobile phone to stay focused on training. She is also an avid reader, particularly interested in books about the power of the subconscious mind and mental control.

Her coach, Prafull Dange, has often praised her hunger to improve and her ability to treat major competitions without being overwhelmed by their scale. It was precisely this mindset that saw Kumkum shine at both the Archery World Cup and the Asian Games this year.