By- Shivli Singh
India’s Dhiraj Bommadevara created history when he became the first Indian male recurve archer to win an individual gold medal at the Archery World Cup Final.
He edged out the competition from Japan – Junya Nakanishi – in a tense shoot-off as they competed in Saltillo, Mexico on Sunday.
Dhiraj’s path to glory wasn’t straightforward. He trailed his opponent throughout the shoot with scores of 3-1 and then 5-3 before battling through to victory.
Before facing off against Nakanishi, Dhiraj beat Türkiye’s Berkim Tumer and France’s two-time Olympic silver medallist Jean-Charles Valladont 7-1 each.
At times during their tussle in the world cup final it looked like it could be an even keel affair as the two archers stood locked together on 5-5 after five sets. But when pushed to the knife edge Dhiraj delivered perfectly with a 10, while Nakanishi only scored a nine, winning him the biggest triumph of his career.
It has been a long time coming, though — and another reason to celebrate. It took some time for Indian recurve archers to taste glory once again. Dhiraj is only the second Indian to bag an individual title in the World Cup Final. Dola Banerjee claimed the women’s recurve crown in Dubai in 2007, but no other Indian male athlete got a chance to clinch a big honours here in 19 years!
But the victory comes on the back of several other successes as well. Earlier this year, Dhiraj grabbed his maiden individual gold when he won the Asian Archery Championships in 2025. In doing that, Dhiraj got a berth in the World Cup Final (he is the sole rep from India) held recently in Antalya.
Now, heading into the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, all Dhiraj needs is a bit more success and he would have completed quite a few milestones in just a span of two years.
The Saltillo win also heralds an exciting time ahead for Indian Archery as their men’s recurve team challenges for medals on the world stage. Perhaps it is even just the start for Dhiraj himself too!