Young Indian archer Dhiraj Bommadevara achieved a historic feat on Sunday by winning the men’s recurve title at the Archery World Cup Final. The 25-year-old Dhiraj secured the Gold Medal by defeating Japan’s Junya Nakanishi 6-5 in a thrilling shoot-off.
After five sets, both archers were tied at 5-5. In the subsequent shoot-off, Dhiraj delivered a brilliant performance, scoring 10 points, while Nakanishi managed only 9. With this, Dhiraj won the match.
With this victory, Dhiraj has become the first Indian male archer to win the men’s recurve title at the World Cup Final. Prior to this, Jayanta Talukdar had won a bronze medal in this prestigious competition in 2010.
This was Dheeraj’s third World Cup final. After missing out on a medal in 2023 and 2024, he made a magnificent comeback this time to secure the biggest individual title of his career.
This is India’s first individual gold medal in a World Cup Final since 2007. Dola Banerjee had won the title in the women’s category in 2007. This historic victory by Dhiraj has brought new recognition to Indian men’s recurve archery.
