Dhiraj Bommadevara Becomes First Indian To Win World Archery Gold

SALTILLO -Sixteen years after Jayanta Talukdar won bronze for India, Dhiraj Bommadevara created another landmark for the country in men’s recurve, becoming the first Indian male archer to win the Archery World Cup Final after holding his nerve in a shoot-off here.

The 25-year-old Army archer, ranked world No. 10, defeated Japan’s Nakanishi Junya 6-5 in a final that went down to the wire. With the contest tied 5-5 after five sets, Dhiraj shot a 10 in the shoot-off, while Nakanishi managed a nine to give the Indian the gold.

The victory came after Dhiraj returned without a medal from his previous two World Cup Final appearances in 2023 and 2024. This time, he negotiated the knockout rounds before facing world No. 20 Nakanishi in a tense title battle.

Neither archer was willing to give ground in the final. The scores across the five sets were 28-28, 28-29, 29-28, 28-30 and 28-27, leaving the gold to be decided in the shoot-off.

Dhiraj’s victory also rewrote India’s record at the prestigious season-ending event. Talukdar had previously won bronze in Edinburgh in 2010, but no Indian man had won the World Cup Final since its inception.

India’s only other individual World Cup Final champion remains Dola Banerjee, who won the women’s title in Dubai in 2007. Dhiraj’s triumph therefore marks India’s first World Cup Final gold since Banerjee’s success 19 years ago.

Deepika Kumari remains India’s most decorated archer at the event, having collected six World Cup Final medals — five silver and one bronze — across eight appearances.

After two previous appearances without a medal, Dhiraj converted his third World Cup Final into the biggest title of his career and became the first Indian man to claim the prestigious crown. (IANS)