How Dhiraj Bommadevara scripted historic recurve Archery World Cup Final title - The Indian Express

Dola Banerjee first raised the Indian recurve flag high in Dubai at an Archery World Cup Final in 2007. Dhiraj Bommadevara has emulated her in Mexico, 19 years later.

The Vijaywada archer pipped Japan’s Junya Nakanishi 10-9 in the shoot-off after a 5-5 tie in the final at Saltillo. Bommadevara thus is the first Indian male recurve archer to win a World Cup Final title.

The 25-year-old, who had earlier won the individual recurve World Cup Stage 3 gold in Antalya, qualified for the eight-archer World Cup Final as the second seed. He notched up wins over Paris Olympics bronze medallist Berkim Tumer and double Olympic silver medallist Jean-Charles Valladont in the quarters and semis, respectively, followed by the win via the shoot-off in the final.

“From the start of the match until the very end, I kept one thing in mind: I had to fight right up to the final arrow, I did fight, and I am incredibly proud. I managed to achieve what I had worked so hard for, and I will continue to do so in the future,” Bommadevara told World Archery.

“It’s like a dream come true. Every athlete dreams of this – becoming a champion at events like the World Cup Final, Asian Games or the Olympics, and waving the national tricolour. That brings immense joy,” he added.

Post his heartbreakingly narrow second-round loss in the individual category and the fourth-place finish in the mixed team event along with Ankita Bhakat at Paris Olympics, Bommadevara saw a dip in form last year. His shooting average dropped from a career-high 9.51 to 9.37.

In a mediocre year, Bommadevara had his moments with a bronze medal at the Archery World Cup Stage 1 in USA. This year, he has lost just three out of 16 matches, with the gold in Antalya marking his maiden World Cup title.

A 7-3 win over Paris Olympics individual bronze and team gold medalist Lee Woo-seok shaped the title, and saw him ranked second behind Tokyo Olympics champion Mete Gazoz in the eight-player draw in Mexico. Bommadevara first defeated Tumer 7-1 before another 7-1 win over Valladont of France in the semi-finals. The final against Nakanishi saw the Indian trailing 1-3 and 3-5 before he won the fifth set 28-27 to tie the match, followed by his 10 as compared to the Japanese’s nine in the shoot-out.

With the competition happening at the Plaza de Armas, one of the main squares in the 1577-founded city, the Indian had to face winds. “Since there is no qualification in the World Cup Final, we had done some individual match simulation practice prior to coming here. With the best eight archers, there is hardly any room for error,” national coach Sonam Tshering Bhutia told The Indian Express from Mexico.

“The winds were blowing here from left to right with the left side open. So the focus was to aim towards the nine o’clock or nine’ o clock-ten position,” Bhutia added.

He acknowledged the pressure of competing against the top-ranked archers, stating that the wins against Tumer and Valladont, along with the shoot-off victory “will motivate Dhiraj further”.

With the Indian archery team departing last week for the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Bommadevara will be heading straight to Japan from Mexico, with recurve competitions starting from September 26.

Last December, he had won the Asian Championships in Bangladesh with a win over compatriot Rahul Banerjee in the final. He had also won the mixed team title along with Kumkum Mahod in Antalya, where the pair had scored a 5-1 win over the reigning Olympic gold medallists Kim Je-deok and Oh Ye-jin of South Korea.

With Je-deok joined by his Paris gold-winning teammates Kim Woo-jin and Lee Woo-seok at the Asian Games, Bommadevara will face a stern Korean challenge in Japan. “Dhiraj’s strength has been his mental fortitude as well as the belief in his technical process. He is a fast-paced shooter and the bow draw and anchor comes at a speed for him. We have also worked on the finishing process. These three wins in a single day will give him a lot of confidence ahead of the Asian Games,” said Bhutia.

Nitin Sharma is an Assistant Editor with the sports team of The Indian Express. Based out of Chandigarh, Nitin works with the print sports desk while also breaking news stories for the online sports team. A Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award recipient for the year 2017 for his story ‘Harmans of Moga’, Nitin has also been a three-time recipient of the UNFPA-supported Laadli Media Awards for Gender Sensitivity for the years 2022, 2023 and 2024 respectively. His latest Laadli Award, in November 2025, came for an article on Deepthi Jeevanji, who won India’s first gold medal at the World Athletics Para Championship and was taunted for her unusual features as a child. Nitin mainly covers Olympics sports disciplines with his main interests in shooting, boxing, wrestling, athletics and much more. The last 17 years with The Indian Express has seen him unearthing stories across India from as far as Andaman and Nicobar to the North East. Nitin also covers cricket apart from women’s cricket with a keen interest. Nitin has covered events like the 2010 Commonwealth Games, the 2011 ODI World Cup, 2016 T20 World Cup and the 2017 AIBA World Youth Boxing Championships. An alumnus of School of Communication Studies, Panjab University, from where he completed his Masters in Mass Communications degree, Nitin has been an avid quizzer too. A Guru Nanak Dev University Colour holder, Nitin’s interest in quizzing began in the town of Talwara Township, a small town near the Punjab-Himachal Pradesh border. When not reporting, Nitin's interests lie in discovering new treks in the mountains or spending time near the river Beas at his hometown. ... Read More