Asian Games: Kirti Sharma recalls tense final as India end South Korea’s 44-year recurve reign

India’s women’s recurve archery team produced a landmark performance at the Asian Games 2026, defeating South Korea 5-3 in the final to win gold and end the Korean side’s 44-year dominance in the event.

Kirti Sharma, who formed the gold-winning trio with Ankita Bhakat and Kumkum Mohod, said the Indian archers stayed focused on their own execution rather than the reputation of their opponents during Friday’s high-pressure final.

“We were not thinking about our opponents. We were just focused on our own performance and following the process we went through during training,” Kirti told SAI media in Japan.

India had earlier defeated China 5-1 in the semifinals to set up the title clash with South Korea.

Kirti said controlling their emotions and maintaining trust within the team were crucial as the trio sought to overcome a long-standing Asian Games powerhouse.

“All three of us had to control our emotions and believed in each other. We didn’t think about the results and just gave our 100 per cent,” she said.

The Hazaribagh-based archer, who hails from Haryana and trains under coach Udham Singh at the SAI training centre in Hazaribagh, said the team remained aware that even a minor lapse could change the contest.

“We knew that our opponents can take the game away if we commit even a small mistake. But we stood strong and maintained the same intensity from the first arrow that we fired to the last one,” Kirti said.

India’s recurve triumph followed a dominant outing by the country’s compound archers, who had won men’s, women’s and mixed team gold medals at the Games.

Kirti said that success had lifted the confidence of the recurve squad.

“Our confidence took a big boost after the compound events. The day we won three consecutive gold medals was a lucky day for India. It motivated us a lot. We wanted to emulate their feat,” she said.

“We were raring to go and could hardly wait for our event to start.”

The gold added another significant chapter to India’s archery campaign at the Asian Games, with Kirti, Ankita and Kumkum delivering a historic victory against South Korea in the women’s recurve team final.