Is this gold! Dhiraj Bommadevara and Kumkum Mohod topple Olympic champions South Korea to win mixed team gold at Archery World Cup

India’s Dhiraj Bommadevara and Kumkum Mohod won the mixed team archery gold medal at the Archery World Cup Stage 3 in Antalya on Sunday, defeating reigning Olympic champions South Korea in the final.The Indian pair beat Oh Ye-jin and Kim Je-deok 5-1 (37-36, 37-36, 39-39) to clinch the title. Facing one of the strongest teams in international archery, Dhiraj and Kumkum maintained control throughout the match and made the most of the crucial moments.The opening two sets were very close but the Indian duo edged both by a single point to take a 4-0 lead. South Korea fought back in the third set to match India with a score of 39-39 to gain one point. However, this was not enough to prevent India from sealing the gold medal.Dhiraj played a key role in the final stages of the competition. The 24-year-old Olympian shot perfect 10s with his last two arrows to help India seal the match and secure victory.The gold medal was a significant achievement for both archers. It was the first World Cup gold medal for Dhiraj and 17-year-old Kumkum in the mixed team recurve event.The win marked India’s second triumph over South Korea in as many months and underlined the growing confidence in the recurve set-up in the run-up to the Asian Games in three months’ time.At the World Cup in Shanghai last month, the women’s trio of Deepika Kumari, Kumkum and Ankita Bhakat stunned record 10-time Olympians in the semi-finals en route to gold. Dhiraj’s campaign in Antalya is not over yet. India’s top archer has also advanced to the individual semi-finals and remains in contention for another medal.Kumkum already celebrated success earlier this season. She was part of India’s gold medal-winning women’s recurve team at the 2nd leg of the Archery World Cup in Shanghai last month.India’s mixed team’s previous gold medal at the World Championships came in 2022 also in Antalya. On that occasion, Ridhi Phor and Tarundeep Rai defeated Bryony Pitman and Alex Wise of Great Britain in a shootout for the title.