Dhiraj Bommadevara capped a landmark day for Indian archery by winning two gold medals at the Archery World Cup Stage 3 in Antalya, taking the men’s individual recurve title and then combining with Kumkum Mohod to clinch the mixed team recurve crown.
After the titles, the 24-year-old archer from Vijayawada recalled a decade-old family sacrifice that helped keep his career alive. Dhiraj said there was a time he “almost quit archery due to financial constraints,” and dedicated the Antalya golds to his parents for backing his dream.
His mother Revathi, who had sold her mangalsutra and other jewellery to buy him a second-hand bow, reflected on the journey. The bow cost Rs 56,000 in 2016, she said, adding that the gold medals won in Turkiye were “worth more than the ornaments we sold.”
How Dhiraj won both gold medals in Antalya
Dhiraj’s men’s recurve gold came after a standout final against South Korea’s Lee Woo Seok, the Paris Olympics individual bronze and team gold medallist. Dhiraj won the title match 7-3 to secure the individual crown.
Earlier in the day, he also played a decisive role in India’s mixed team recurve triumph alongside 17-year-old Kumkum Mohod. The Indian pair defeated the top-seeded South Korean team of Kim Je-deok and Oh Yejin 5-1 in the summit clash to take gold.
In the men’s individual semifinals, Dhiraj beat Germany’s Moritz Wieser 6-4 after trailing 1-3, a comeback that set up the final against Lee. The day’s results also placed Dhiraj in a select group: he became only the third Indian man to win a World Cup recurve gold after Jayanta Talukdar and Atanu Das.
The mixed team title further underlined the significance of the double. Dhiraj and Kumkum became the third Indian recurve mixed team pair to win top honours at the event, following Atanu Das/Deepika Kumari (2021) and Tarundeep Rai/Ridhi Phor (2022).
Conditions in Antalya added another layer to the achievement. On what was described as a windy day, Dhiraj struck 19 tens from his 36 shots across the two events, including each of his final shot of the sets in the two finals.
National coach Sonam Bhutia described the performance as a major morale-booster ahead of the Asian Games, pointing to Dhiraj’s composure and adjustments in shifting winds. Bhutia said Dhiraj “kept his calm with winds coming from both left to right and right to left,” and adjusted by aiming at the 9 o’clock position.
Dhiraj, for his part, said the focus in Antalya was on execution rather than opponents. He said the fight was “only with the way we shoot and to aim for consistency,” adding that participation in the Archery Premier League, the National Ranking Tournament and trials helps archers mentally as well as technically.
A family’s decade-long push behind the breakthrough
Dhiraj’s parents described a long period of financial strain, including the time after the school they were running in Vijayawada was shut down. His father Shravan Kumar said there were days when relatives and friends called them “pagal” for continuing with the sporting dream despite the problems.
Dhiraj’s early lessons came at the IGMC Stadium in Vijayawada, where his father would take him for fitness classes. He later trained under coach Cherukuri Satya Narayana and the late Cherukuri Lenin at the Cherukuri Volga Archery Academy.
Satya Narayana recalled Dhiraj joining the academy in 2006 when he was “less than three feet tall,” carrying a bamboo bow and asking for a senior one. The coach also remembered Dhiraj winning a district U13 championship at the age of eight and consistently putting up strong scores in junior and sub-junior events.
Dhiraj’s progress included a U14 national title at 13, a nationals silver, and a silver in the Asian Outdoor Championships in 2017—also the year the family’s finances became especially difficult. Shravan later undertook a 20-day course from the Archery Association of India to be eligible as an AAI technical official and travel with his son, while Revathi joined the academy to support the family.
Shravan also said that after Dhiraj got a job with the Army Sports Institute and support from Olympic Gold Quest, he bought the family a house and got a new set of ornaments for his mother in 2022.
Why the twin golds matter for Indian archery
Winning both the men’s recurve and mixed team recurve titles at a World Cup stage is a statement result, particularly given the victories over top-seeded and decorated South Korean opponents in both gold-medal matches. For Dhiraj, it also marks a personal milestone that connects his early struggles and family support to the sport’s biggest international platforms.
With the Asian Games on the horizon, the Antalya double—built on a semifinal comeback, a controlled final, and a mixed team win against the top seeds—gives India a timely boost and adds another Indian name to the short list of men’s recurve World Cup gold medallists.