Okazaki: At 17, Kumkum Mohod is already rewriting the history of Indian archery, as the teenager became the first Indian woman to reach the individual recurve final at the Asian Games after a composed 6-2 victory over China’s Jingyi Zhu, the silver medallist at the 2025 World Championships, on Saturday.
Just minutes after producing a stunning upset of South Korea’s reigning world champion and Olympic team gold medallist Kang Chaeyoung, Kumkum returned to the shooting line for another high-pressure assignment. The challenge this time was Zhu, one of the finalists at the last World Championships.
The Indian teenager once again refused to be overwhelmed by the occasion.
Zhu opened the semifinal with an 8, but Kumkum immediately established control with a 9. Both archers then found the 10-ring before matching 9s with their final arrows. Kumkum took the opening set 28-27 to move 2-0 ahead.
What followed was a remarkable display of nerve.
The second set produced six consecutive 10s. Zhu started with a perfect 10 and Kumkum matched her. Another 10 from the Chinese archer was followed by another from Kumkum before both finished with yet another 10.
A flawless 30-30 set meant the points were shared, leaving Kumkum 3-1 ahead.
Zhu appeared to have found her rhythm in the third set, opening with a 10. Kumkum’s first arrow was initially marked as an 8, leaving her needing to recover. She did exactly that, responding with consecutive 10s.
Zhu finished with a 29, while Kumkum’s final score initially appeared to be 28. A review, however, upgraded her first arrow to a 9, making it a 29-29 tie.
Kumkum, therefore, carried a 4-2 lead into the fourth set, knowing that another tied set would be enough to send her through.
She did not need to wait for another tie. Both archers began with 9s before finding 10s with their second arrows. Zhu then struck a 9 with her final attempt, leaving Kumkum needing a 10 to close out the semifinal.
The teenager delivered once again. Her final arrow found the 10-ring, sealing a 6-2 victory and a place in the gold-medal match. The achievement is historic for India: no Indian woman had previously reached the Asian Games individual recurve final.
Kumkum’s route to the final has been particularly striking. She has now defeated the reigning world champion and the reigning World Championships silver medallist in successive rounds, two archers who stood on opposite sides of the individual final at the most recent World Championships.
For Kumkum, however, there is still one more match to shoot. She will face South Korea’s Yejin Oh in the final, scheduled for 7:20 a.m. IST.
(IANS)
