India Win First-Ever Women's Recurve Team Gold at Asian Games
Ankita Bhakat, Kumkum Anil Mohod and Kirti won India's first-ever gold medal in the Women's Recurve Team archery event at the Asian Games on 2 October 2026.

Why in News
The Prime Minister's congratulations on 2 October 2026 went to three archers, Ankita Bhakat, Kumkum Anil Mohod and Kirti, whose win in the women's recurve team event gave India a gold it had never taken at the Asian Games before.
Indian archery produced its finest result yet on the recurve range at the Asian Games. Ankita Bhakat, Kumkum Anil Mohod and Kirti climbed to the top of the podium in the Women's Recurve Team event, and the gold medal they collected is the first the country has ever taken in this event at the continental Games.
The three archers on the podium
A recurve team event is shot by three archers from each country, whose arrows are scored together, so a single team medal belongs equally to three names. That trio for India was Ankita Bhakat, Kumkum Anil Mohod and Kirti. Congratulating them, the Prime Minister said the three had kept their nerve and shot with fine accuracy in a final that stayed tight to the finish, and that a win of this standing would turn a generation of young archers in the country towards the same podium.
Why it is called a first
India has taken archery medals at the Asian Games before, but never the gold in the women's recurve team event. That is what makes this result a landmark rather than one more entry in the medal table. The recurve bow is the Olympic-style bow, which separates these events from the compound archery events decided alongside them, and aspirants are often asked to tell the two disciplines apart.
At a glance
| Detail | Fact |
|---|---|
| Games | Asian Games |
| Event | Women's Recurve Team (archery) |
| Medal | Gold, India's first ever in this event |
| Archers | Ankita Bhakat, Kumkum Anil Mohod, Kirti |
| Date of the news | 2 October 2026 |
What was said
The Prime Minister called the victory historic and said it had pleased the whole country. He added that India was proud of the three champions and wished them well for the contests still in front of them. The message was carried in a post on X by the Prime Minister's Office.
Why aspirants should note it
- Team archery medals carry three names, and a question usually asks a candidate to place all three in the same squad
- The event is the women's recurve team, not the compound team, and mixing the two is the commonest slip
- The colour of the medal is gold, and it is India's first in this event at the Asian Games
- Kumkum Anil Mohod figures in more than one Indian archery medal of the same day, so her name is worth fixing firmly
Important Facts
| Games | Asian Games |
|---|---|
| Event | Women's Recurve Team, archery |
| Medal | Gold |
| Archers | Ankita Bhakat, Kumkum Anil Mohod and Kirti |
| Significance | India's first-ever gold in this event at the Asian Games |
| Bow type | Recurve, the Olympic-style bow |
| Team size | Three archers per country |
| Date of the news | 2 October 2026 |
Exam Point of View
Fix the three names together: Ankita Bhakat, Kumkum Anil Mohod and Kirti. Then the event, the women's recurve team in archery, and the colour of the medal, gold. The detail that makes it a question in its own right is that this is India's first-ever gold in this event at the Asian Games. Keep recurve apart from compound, and remember that a recurve team is three archers, which is why the medal carries three names.
Practice Questions
Which Indian trio won the gold medal in the Women's Recurve Team event at the Asian Games?
- A.Ankita Bhakat, Kumkum Anil Mohod and Kirti
- B.Harshita Tomar, Shital Verma and Kirti
- C.Ankita Bhakat, Dhiraj Bommadevara and Kirti
- D.Kumkum Anil Mohod, Shital Verma and Ankita Bhakat
Show answer
Correct answer: A. Ankita Bhakat, Kumkum Anil Mohod and Kirti
Explanation
The correct answer is Ankita Bhakat, Kumkum Anil Mohod and Kirti. The three of them shot together in the women's recurve team event at the Asian Games and brought India the gold medal, the country's first ever in that event, and the Prime Minister congratulated all three by name. Option B is wrong because Harshita Tomar and Shital Verma are not archers in this story at all; the pair won their medal in the women's skiff, a sailing event, on the same day. Option C is wrong because Dhiraj Bommadevara is a male archer and cannot be part of a women's team; he shot in the recurve mixed team event instead. Option D is wrong because it drops Kirti and brings in Shital Verma, who again belongs to the sailing medal and not to the archery squad. The safe way to hold this item in memory is to keep the three archery names as one block, since a recurve team is made up of three archers whose scores are added together.
In which event did India win its first-ever gold medal at the Asian Games, as announced on 2 October 2026?
- A.Women's Compound Team
- B.Recurve Mixed Team
- C.Women's Recurve Team
- D.Women's Skiff
Show answer
Correct answer: C. Women's Recurve Team
Explanation
The correct answer is Women's Recurve Team. India had never taken the gold in this archery event at the Asian Games before, and Ankita Bhakat, Kumkum Anil Mohod and Kirti ended that wait, which is why the Prime Minister described the win as historic and as a landmark for the sport. Option A, the women's compound team, is a different archery discipline shot with a compound bow and is not the event in which this particular first was recorded. Option B, the recurve mixed team, is the event in which Dhiraj Bommadevara and Kumkum Anil Mohod took a silver medal, not a gold. Option D, the women's skiff, is a sailing event in which Harshita Tomar and Shital Verma finished with the bronze medal. Candidates should note that the day brought India medals of three different colours in three different events, so the colour and the event have to be matched carefully.
The recurve team event, in which Ankita Bhakat, Kumkum Anil Mohod and Kirti won gold, belongs to which sport?
- A.Shooting
- B.Archery
- C.Sailing
- D.Fencing
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Archery
Explanation
The correct answer is archery. Recurve is one of the two bow types used in competitive archery, the other being the compound bow, and the recurve bow is the one used in Olympic archery, so a recurve team event is always an archery event. Option A, shooting, is wrong even though it also involves aiming at a target, because shooting events are named after rifle, pistol, trap or skeet disciplines rather than after a bow. Option C, sailing, is wrong because sailing events carry names such as the skiff or the dinghy classes, and India's sailing medal of the same day came in the women's skiff. Option D, fencing, is wrong because fencing is a combat sport contested with the foil, the epee and the sabre. For revision, link the word recurve to archery and to the Olympic-style bow, and keep the three gold medallists' names attached to it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who won the women's recurve team gold for India at the Asian Games?
Ankita Bhakat, Kumkum Anil Mohod and Kirti. Their gold, announced on 2 October 2026, is India's first ever in the women's recurve team event at the Asian Games.
Why is this archery gold described as historic?
Because India had never before won the gold medal in the women's recurve team event at the Asian Games. The trio's win is the country's first in that event.
How many archers make up a recurve team?
Three. Their scores are added together, which is why a single team medal is credited to three archers rather than one.
Sources
- https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2318113 (opens in a new tab) — Press Information Bureau
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