17-year-old Kumkum hits bullseye; Pranavi Urs bags crucial gold in golf

NAGOYA: India bagged crucial medals in archery and golf at the Asian Games. 17-year-old Kumkum Anil Mohod and Pranavi Sharath Urs secured individual gold medals in archery and golf, respectively. Kumkum achieved this feat in the women's individual recurve event, becoming the first Indian woman to win an Asian Games gold in this category. She clinched the gold by defeating South Korea's Oh Ye-jin in a shoot-off. With this victory, India also secured a quota for the women's recurve event at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

Kumkum defeated Oh Ye-jin 6–5 in the final after being tied at 5–5 after five sets. In the ensuing shoot-off, the South Korean athlete scored eight points, while Kumkum scored 10 to secure the gold medal. She had reached the semi-finals by defeating the reigning world champion, South Korea's Kang Chae-young, 6–4 in the quarter-finals. In the semi-final, she beat China's Xu Jing—a former world number one and 2025 World Championship silver medalist—by a score of 6–2.

Despite facing an early setback in the final, Kumkum staged a strong comeback in the second set. This marks her second gold medal at these Asian Games. She clinched the individual gold shortly after winning gold for India in the women's recurve team event alongside Ankita Bhakat and Keerthi Sharma. Kumkum also secured a silver medal in the mixed recurve team event with Dhiraj Bommadevara.

Pranavi secured the gold medal in the women's individual golf event through an outstanding performance in the final round. This victory ended India's long wait for an individual gold medal in golf at the Asian Games. Alongside Pranavi's individual achievement, India also won the silver medal in the women's team event. Pranavi Urs, Aditi Ashok, and Diksha Dagar represented India in the women's team category.