Kumkum Mohod once had to break Family's Savings for a Bow, Now She has 3 Asian Games Medals at 17

At the age of 17, Kumkum Mohod has emerged as one of India's most prominent archers. The teenager from Amravati in Maharashtra has racked up three medals at the 2026 Asian Games.

After winning Gold with the Women's Recurve team, Kumkum managed a silver with the Mixed Recurve Team as well. And now, she has created history by winning a Gold medal in the individual recurve event.

Kumkum continues Merry Run in Recurve Individual

Kumkum Mohod has continued her stunning Asian Games 2026 campaign, defeating South Korea's Chaeyoung Kang 6-4 in the quarterfinal before beating China's Zhu Jingyi 6-2 in the semifinal.

In the final, Kumkum Mohod took on Korea's Yejin Oh and it was a see-saw battle. After five rounds, the two archers were tied 5-5 and the gold medal encounter went to a shoot-off. The Korean archer hit an eight, and Kumkum pouned to secure 10 and clinched the Gold.

Kumkum has become the first Indian woman to win a Gold medal in the Recurve Individual event at the Asian Games. With this, she also secured a quota for India for the LA 2028 Olympics.

Who is Kumkum Mohod?

Kumkum's introduction to archery came in 2018, when she was still in school. Her mother, Rupali, saw a relative's daughter practising at Radhey Archery Academy in Amravati, run by coach Prafull Dange, and encouraged Kumkum to try the sport.

She initially used an Indian/wooden bow, purchased for around ₹3,000 using money given by her grandmother. Remarkably, within just six months, she won a silver medal at the sub-junior nationals.

Kumkum's rise is notable because her breakthrough did not come after years of having access to elite equipment and facilities. She began with a basic bow, came from a family with limited financial resources and had to overcome practical obstacles such as transportation and equipment costs.

Her father, Anil Manohar Mohod, makes cardboard boxes for sweet shops in Amravati. When Kumkum's training expenses increased, travelling to the academy became a major challenge. Her father began taking her to training on his motorcycle because the shared-auto cost had become difficult to sustain.

Kumkum's Family had to break their Savings for Bow

She started her archery journey and continued competing with a second-hand bow that she had been using for around five years. Later, a more advanced recurve bow costing approximately ₹1.87 lakh was purchased using her family's savings accumulated over years, with support from her coach.

Her coach Prafull Dange has described her defining quality as an intense "hunger" to improve, and it has reflected with her hat-trick of medals at the Asian Games.