By Jagdish Yadav
Aichi-Nagoya [Japan], October 3 : India's teenage archery sensation Kumkum Mohod said she does not allow the reputation of her opponents to affect her approach, insisting that she focuses on her own process and staying in the moment after scripting history at the Asian Games here on Saturday.
"Everyone talks about Korea. But I never look at who is playing in front of me. I just have to complete my process, follow it, stay in my own zone while playing, and just enjoy that moment by staying in the present. That's exactly what I did today. I enjoyed the whole shooting session today and played really well," Kumkum told ANI after winning the women's individual recurve gold on Saturday.
The 17-year-old recurve archer from Amravati produced a composed performance under pressure to defeat South Korea's Oh Yejin in a dramatic single-arrow shoot-off and become the first Indian woman to win an individual recurve medal at the Asian Games.
After the final was tied 5-5 following five sets, Oh shot an 8 in the shoot-off before Kumkum held her nerve to fire a perfect 10 and secure the gold.
The victory also completed a remarkable three-medal campaign for Kumkum, who had already won women's recurve team gold and mixed recurve team silver on Friday.
Kumkum, along with Ankita Bhakat and Kirti Sharma, defeated South Korea 5-3 in the women's recurve team final, ending a long wait for India in the event. The Indian trio had earlier beaten China 5-1 in the semifinals.
She then partnered Dhiraj Bommadevara to a silver medal in the mixed recurve team event after India lost 3-5 to China's Zhu Jingyi and Li Mengqi in the final.
Talking about her conversation with Bommadevara during the event, she said, "Bhaiya [elder brother] said that just think that it's only the two of us and he said he believes in you more than himself. He believed in me, and I believed in him. Just go there and shoot, and enjoy that moment, that's what we were talking about."
Kumkum started archery in 2018 and initially trained with bamboo bow and basic equipments before moving to recurve. Her family supported her journey despite financial constraints, with her father Anil Mohod, often taking her to tournaments on his motorcycle.
"I started archery in 2018. After that, I played the Indian circuit for 4 years, and then I took up recurve. It's been 4 years now, playing this. There was a huge downfall in between, meaning I wasn't hitting the target at all and my form was off. After that, I improved a lot—even in terms of strength, I mean, I worked hard and achieved everything," Kumkum told ANI.
Reflecting on her journey, Kumkum said she had gone through a difficult phase before finding her form again. But her coach in Amravati, Praful Dange showed confidence in him and helped her regain her confidence.
"Back then I didn't believe in myself in those situations. Praful [Dange] sir believed in me a lot, so I started believing in myself. And then I just started playing carefree, meaning I had no tension, no pressure about the result or anything. After that, it all went well. We have also worked on the shooting skill. Sir worked really hard on that too," she said.
Kumkum's Asian Games gold also earned India a quota spot for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics. However, she said the Olympic dream is far from complete.
"The dream isn't fully fulfilled yet. The main dream I have for the Olympics is still left," she said.
With the Asian Games campaign behind her, Kumkum is already looking ahead and said she wants to increase her workload rather than rest on her achievements.
"Right now, after this, there is the Archery Premier League, and after that, there are the other National games. I have to focus on those as well. We will look at next year as well, and for now, the hard work must continue. I need to work twice as hard right now," she concluded.
Her three-medal haul has made her one of the standout performers for India at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, but the teenager insists her biggest target remains ahead of her.