Asian champion B. Dhiraj underlined his class as he guided India to beat formidable Korean archers and claim two recurve gold medals, in mixed team and individual, at the Archery World Cup Stage-3 in Antalya on Sunday.

Olympian Dhiraj joined hands with 17-year-old rookie Kumkum Mohod to topple more accomplished Koreans, including Olympic medallist Kim Je Deok and former World youth champion Oh Yejin, 5-1 (37-36, 37-36, 39-39) in the final to secure the mixed team gold.

Later, in an intensely fought match for the individual gold, the 24-year-old Dhiraj upset multiple World and Olympics medallist Korean Lee Woo Seok 7-3 (30-29, 29-28, 27-27, 27-29, 30-29).

Earlier, Dhiraj had rallied to defeat World Cup Stage and European medallist Moritz Wieser 6-4 (26-27, 28-28, 28-28, 30-27, 28-23) in the semifinals.

Atanu Das was the last Indian archer to win a World Cup Stage men’s individual gold in Guatemala City in 2021. India won its last mixed team gold through Tarundeep Rai and Ridhi Phor in Antalya in 2022.

This was a significant achievement as Korea won both gold medals since the mixed team event’s debut in the Olympics.

The two gold medals, achieved by beating superpower Korea, ahead of the all important Asian Games will give a lot of self-belief to the country’s archers.

“This is the result of our team work (of recurve and compound archers). We back each other and try to maintain a positive atmosphere despite losing matches narrowly. I thought that I was shooting alone (in individual matches to keep off pressure). Focusing on the process even after shooting a 10 worked, even though it was not easy,” Dhiraj told The Hindu.

“In mixed team, we thought we were shooting at the Asian Games. Kumkum followed my instructions well. We put in more effort and enjoyed our luck,” he added.

Former world champion Ojas Deotale led from the front as India’s men compound team secured a top-10 finish in the qualification round of the Archery World Cup Stage 2 here on Tuesday (May 5, 2026).

Deotale, who became India’s first-ever male world champion in archery by winning the 2023 World Archery Championships in Berlin, was the best-placed Indian, shooting 711 points to finish seventh overall that set the tone for the team’s effort.

Sahil Jadhav also logged in 711 points, taking the next spot on X-count, while Kushal Dalal completed the trio with an overall 18th-place finish as India sealed the third seeding in the team event.

Asian Games medallist Abhishek Verma, however, endured a disappointing outing, finishing 25th with 705 points to miss out on the team combination.

He will still feature in the individual elimination rounds.

In the women’s compound section, former world champion Aditi Swami finished 13th with 700 points— seven behind USA’s Alexis Ruiz, who topped the qualification.

Pragati was the second-best Indian at 19th with 697 points, while multiple World Cup winner Jyothi Surekha Vennam slipped to 21st, as the trio combined to give India the fifth seeding in the women’s team event.

Mexico, South Korea and the USA occupied the top three spots.

Deotale and Aditi will pair up in the compound mixed team event.

The duo, who topped their respective Indian charts in qualification, combined for 1411 points to secure the sixth seeding.

The recurve qualifiers will begin on Wednesday (May 6, 2026).