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2025 Asian Championships gold medallist Dhiraj Bommadevara on Sunday, September 13, became the first Indian male archer to win a recurve gold at the World Cup Final, after he beat Japan’s Nakanishi Junya in a thrilling shoot-off in Saltillo in Mexico.
After returning empty-handed from the 2023 and 2024 editions, Dhiraj mounted a dominant campaign this time, powering through the quarter-finals and semi-finals before edging world No. 20 Nakanishi 6-5 (28-28, 28-29, 29-28, 28-30, 28-27) in a closely fought five-setter.
After a 5-5 tie, Dhiraj prevailed 10-9 in the shoot-off.
DHIRAJ BOMMADEVERA CREATED HISTORY IN MEXICO 👏🏻👏🏻🤩🇮🇳
DHIRAJ Became 1st Ever Indian Recurve & Male Archer to Win World Cup Final 🥇 Gold 🏹 !!
Came from 1-3,3-5 down to win
it in Shoot off (6-5) by hitting 10 !!
🎥 – World Archery #Archery pic.twitter.com/UdZunLjZFV
— Navin Mittal (@NavinSports) September 13, 2026
With the win, Dhiraj became the first Indian male recurve archer to win gold at the World Cup Final.
Dhiraj also ended a 16-year wait for an Indian male recurve archer to claim a medal at the prestigious event. Jayanta Talukdar was the last Indian male recurve archer to do so, winning bronze in Edinburgh in 2010.
Dola Banerjee remains the only other Indian to have won World Cup Final gold, claiming the women’s individual title in the 2007 edition in Dubai.
No Indian had won gold at the World Cup Final since Dola’s win.
Deepika Kumari, however, has the most World Cup Final medals among Indians, with five silver and one bronze from eight appearances.
Dhiraj now heads straight to the Asian Games in Japan, where he will spearhead India’s recurve campaign after being knocked out in the quarter-finals of the Hangzhou edition.
Dhiraj did, however, win a team silver at the previous Games.
In the gold medal clash, Dhiraj trailed twice in the gruelling five-setter as Junya started well, but he held his nerve to fight back and level the score at 5-5.
Fresh from eliminating Tokyo Olympics champion Mete Gazoz in the semifinal, Junya dropped just three points from his first six arrows to take a 3-1 lead.
Dhiraj bounced back with a 29 in the third set to level the contest at 3-3, but Junya responded with a perfect three-arrow set in the fourth to regain the lead at 5-3. He then needed only a tied fifth set to seal the gold.
