India’s Kumkum Mohod and Dhiraj Bommadevara secured the silver medal in the mixed recurve archery team event at the Asian Games 2026 after China’s Zhu Jingyi and Li Mengqi prevailed 5-3 in a closely fought gold-medal match on Friday.
The Indian pair, who had earlier defeated Japan 5-3 in the semifinal, made a slow start in the final and found themselves 0-4 down after the opening two sets.
They then mounted a spirited fightback but could not complete the comeback.
China took the opening set 38-34 to establish an early lead. Zhu struck two 10s, while Li contributed an 8 and a 10 as the Chinese pair built a four-point advantage.
India again struggled to match China in the second set, going down 35-37. Kumkum recorded two 8s, while Dhiraj added a 9 and a 10, but China’s combined score of 37 put them one set away from the title.
With their opponents on the brink of victory, India produced their best shooting of the contest in the third set.
Kumkum began with an 8 before finding a 10, while Dhiraj followed with a 10 and a 9 as India posted 37. China needed 18 from their final two arrows to close out the match, but after Zhu struck a 10, Li could manage only a 7.
India took the set 37-36 and cut the deficit to 2-4, keeping their gold-medal hopes alive.
The fourth set went down to the final arrows, with both teams finishing on 37. Kumkum shot a 9 and a 10, while Dhiraj added two 9s to give India a strong total.
China needed 19 from their final two arrows to secure the gold. Zhu produced a 9 before Li held her nerve with a 10, taking China to 37 and sealing the title on the tied set.
The 5-3 victory earned China the gold medal as well as the automatic Los Angeles 2028 Olympic qualification quota available through the mixed team event. India, meanwhile, had to settle for silver.
The result still capped a memorable day for India in recurve archery.
Earlier, Kumkum joined Ankita Bhakat and Kirti Sharma in the women’s recurve team final, where India defeated South Korea 5-3 to claim gold. The victory delivered India’s first-ever Asian Games medal in the women’s recurve team event.
The gold took India’s tally at the Aichi-Nagoya Games to 11, while the mixed team silver lifted the country’s overall medal count to 68 – 11 gold, 24 silver and 33 bronze – leaving India seventh on the medal table at the time of writing.
Kumkum, 17, was part of both medal-winning teams on Friday, emerging as one of India’s standout performers in recurve archery at the Games.