The 24-year-old Dhiraj delivered a steady performance in the men\u2019s individual recurve final, defeating Olympic bronze medallist Lee Woo-seok of South Korea 7-3. This victory secured the biggest title of his career.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
It was Dhiraj\u2019s first individual gold medal at an Archery World Cup event and his fourth individual World Cup medal overall, having previously earned three bronze medals. His win also ended a five-year drought for India in the men\u2019s individual recurve category. He became the first Indian to win World Cup gold in this event since Atanu Das did so in 2021. Jayanta Talukdar remains the only other Indian man to have claimed an individual recurve title at a World Cup event.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Dhiraj\u2019s path to gold was challenging. In the semi-finals, he was down 3-1 against Germany\u2019s Moritz Wieser before coming back to win 6-4, securing his spot in the gold-medal match. With that momentum, the Indian archer excelled in the final, outpacing Lee Woo-seok, one of the top recurve archers and an Olympic medallist, to take the top position on the podium.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Earlier in the day, Dhiraj also found success with 17-year-old Kumkum Mohod as they won the recurve mixed team gold medal. Seeded third, the Indian duo upset the top-seeded South Koreans Oh Yejin and Kim Je-deok 5-1 in the final, continuing India\u2019s resurgence in recurve archery.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
This win was especially significant given their opponents' credentials. Kim Je-deok was part of South Korea\u2019s mixed team that won gold at the Tokyo Olympics and has been on the champion men\u2019s teams for both the Tokyo and Paris Games. Oh Yejin is a former youth world champion.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Earlier in the day, Dhiraj also found success with 17-year-old Kumkum Mohod as they won the recurve mixed team gold medal. Seeded third, the Indian duo upset the top-seeded South Koreans Oh Yejin and Kim Je-deok 5-1 in the final, continuing India\u2019s resurgence in recurve archery.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
For Kumkum, this win was particularly meaningful as it marked her second consecutive World Cup gold medal. She was also part of India\u2019s winning women\u2019s recurve team at the previous World Cup in Shanghai.<\/p>\r\n\r\n