Aichi-Nagoya: India enjoyed a historic day at the Asian Games on Saturday as teenager Kumkum won the country’s first individual women’s recurve gold in archery, while golfer Pranavi Urs also created history by becoming the first Indian woman to claim an individual gold in the sport.
The 17-year-old Kumkum defeated South Korea’s Oh Yejin in a tense final, prevailing 6-5 after the contest was level at 5-5 following five sets. In the decisive shoot-off, Oh managed an eight, while Kumkum held her nerve to hit a perfect 10 and seal the gold.
Kumkum became the first Indian woman to win an individual recurve medal at the Asian Games and went on to secure the top spot on the podium.
In men’s recurve archery, Dhiraj Bommadevara missed out on a place in the final after losing 3-7 to South Korea’s Lee Wooseok in the semifinal. Dhiraj will now compete for bronze. Neeraj also reached the bronze-medal contest after going down 1-7 to Japan’s Junya Nakanishi in his semifinal.
India also strengthened its medal prospects in wrestling, with Aman Sehrawat and Antim Panghal advancing to the finals of the men’s freestyle 57kg and women’s 53kg categories respectively.
Aman produced a remarkable comeback against Kyrgyzstan’s Aiaal Belolyubskii. Trailing 2-6 after the opening round, the Indian scored 12 points in the second period to complete a 14-8 victory. He had earlier beaten Japan’s Yamato Ogawa 20-0 in the round of 16 before defeating Kazakhstan’s Nurdanat Aitanov 12-1 in the quarterfinals.
In women’s golf, Pranavi Urs added another historic gold for India. The 23-year-old Mysuru golfer finished the competition at 15-under 265, edging China’s Yin Ruoning and Singapore’s Shannon Tan by one stroke.
Pranavi began the final round with a three-shot advantage but faced an early setback after a triple bogey on the third hole. She recovered with three birdies and maintained her composure to finish on top.
Her victory made her the first Indian woman to win an individual golf gold at the Asian Games, while India also secured silver in the women’s team event.
