The 25-year-old Army archer, ranked world No. 10, prevailed over Japan\u2019s Nakanishi Junya 6-5 in a final that went down to the wire in Saltillo. With the contest locked at 5-5 after five sets, Dhiraj produced a 10 in the shoot-off before Nakanishi managed a nine to seal the gold.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
It was a breakthrough that had eluded Dhiraj in his two previous World Cup Final appearances. He had returned from the 2023 and 2024 editions without a medal, but this time navigated the knockout rounds with authority before finding himself in a tense title battle against world No. 20 Nakanishi.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Neither archer was willing to give ground in the final. The scores read 28-28, 28-29, 29-28, 28-30, and 28-27 across the five sets, leaving the gold to be decided by the smallest of margins.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Dhiraj\u2019s victory also rewrote India\u2019s record at the prestigious season-ending event. Talukdar had previously won bronze in Edinburgh in 2010, but no Indian man had gone all the way to gold since the tournament\u2019s inception.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
India\u2019s only other individual World Cup Final champion remains Dola Banerjee, who captured the women\u2019s title in Dubai in 2007. Dhiraj\u2019s triumph, therefore, marks India\u2019s first World Cup Final gold since Banerjee\u2019s success 19 years ago.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Dhiraj\u2019s victory also rewrote India\u2019s record at the prestigious season-ending event. Talukdar had previously won bronze in Edinburgh in 2010, but no Indian man had gone all the way to gold since the tournament\u2019s inception.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
For Dhiraj, however, Saltillo was about creating a record of his own. After two previous attempts ended without a medal, the Army archer finally converted his third World Cup Final appearance into the biggest title of his career, while opening a new chapter for Indian men\u2019s recurve archery.<\/p>\r\n\r\n