A gift from grandmother, a second-hand bow and three medals from the Asian Games: How 17-year-old Kumkum Mohod made history

From a Rs 3,000 wooden bow to Asian Games history, Kumkum Mohod’s rise has been built on sacrifice, discipline and an unwavering belief in his ability. At just 17, the Amravati archer has emerged as one of the brightest young stars in Indian archery after winning two gold medals and a silver at the 2026 Asian Games.Kumkum’s golden run in Aichi-Nagoya began in the women’s recurve team event where she teamed up with Ankita Bhakat and Kirti Sharma to beat South Korea 5-2 to help India win its first ever Asian Games gold. She then teamed up with Dhiraj Bommadevara to win silver in the mixed recurve team event. On Saturday, she capped a remarkable campaign by defeating South Korea’s Oh Yejin 6-5 in the individual reversals final to win the shootout 10-8. The win made Kumkum the first Indian woman to win an individual medal at the Asian Games, and that medal was gold.The individual title also secured India one of the quota places for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. The quota belongs to a country rather than an individual athlete, but it marks another significant milestone for Kumkum barely a month after breaking through to the senior international circuit.

The Rs 3,000 tribute that started it all

Kumkum’s story began in Amravati, Maharashtra in 2018. Her mother Rupali spotted a relative’s daughter practicing archery at coach Prafull Dange’s academy and encouraged Kumkum, then a schoolgirl, to try the sport.Her first bow was a basic wooden one that her grandmother bought for Rs 3,000. Within six months of taking up the sport, Kumkum won a silver medal at the sub-junior nationals, an early sign that she could go far in the sport.However, her family had limited financial resources. Her father Anil Manohar Mohod made cardboard boxes for sweets and bakeries in Amravati. As the family struggled with the cost of training and traveling to races, he often took Kumkum to events on his motorcycle rather than pay for transportation.Even after reaching the international stage, Kumkum continued to compete with relatively modest equipment. The bow she helped India win the women’s recurve team gold at the Archery World Cup in Shanghai earlier this year was second-hand and she had been using it for five years.

The coach soon saw the potential

Kumkum’s trainer Prafull Dange has been with her for about eight years and has repeatedly praised her discipline and willingness to learn. Dange said he was impressed by her stubbornness to improve, along with her upper body strength and shoulder position. During the Covid-19 pandemic, when normal training was disrupted, the pair worked intensively on short range shooting. According to Dange, these exercises helped Kumkum strengthen her back muscles and improve her drawing technique.

2026: Breakthrough Year

The 2026 season completely changed Kumkum’s profile. She helped India win team archery gold at the 2nd leg of the Archery World Cup in Shanghai, India’s first team gold since 2021. She later added another World Cup mixed back gold with Dhiraj Bommadevara in Antalya.These performances earned her a place in the Indian Asian Games team. She arrived in Aichi-Nagoya as the youngest member of the Indian recurring squad, but quickly showed that age is no barrier.She won her first two individual matches 6-0 before advancing to the knockout stage. In the quarterfinals, she defeated reigning world champion Kang Chaeyoung 6:4. She then defeated China’s Jingyi Zhu 6–2 in the semi-finals to book her place in the final and secure a place in the Olympic quota for India.At the age of 17, she already became a gold medalist of the World Cup, winner of the Asian Games and holder of Olympic quotas.