Dhiraj Bommadevara makes history with World Cup Final gold in Saltillo

Top-ranked Indian recurve archer Dhiraj Bommadevara scripted history on Sunday by becoming the first Indian male recurve archer to win gold at the World Cup Final, edging Japan's Nakanishi Junya in a thrilling shoot-off here.

After returning empty-handed from the 2023 and 2024 editions, the 25-year-old World No 10 Army man produced a dominant run this time, powering through the quarterfinals and semifinals before overcoming world No. 20 Nakanishi 6-5 (28-28, 28-29, 29-28, 28-30, 28-27) in a hard-fought five-setter. After a 5-5 tie, Dhiraj prevailed 10-9 in the shoot-off.

With the victory, Dhiraj became the first Indian male recurve archer to win gold at the World Cup Final.

He also ended a 16-year wait for an Indian male recurve archer to win the prestigious title. Jayanta Talukdar was the last male recurve archer to win a medal -- a bronze in Edinburgh 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 triumph.

Deepika Kumari however has the most World Cup Final medals among Indians, with five silver and one bronze from eight appearances.

Dhiraj now flies straight to the Asian Games in Japan, where he will spearhead India's recurve campaign, having lost in the quarterfinals of the Hangzhou edition. He had, however, won a team silver at the last edition.

In the gold medal clash, Dhiraj trailed twice in the gruelling five-setter as Junya began strongly, 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, the 27-year-old Japanese dropped just three points from his first six arrows to take a 3-1 lead.

But the Indian bounced back to shoot 29 in the third set and make it 3-all, only for the Japanese to produce a perfect three-arrow set in the fourth to regain the lead at 5-3, needing just a tied fifth set to seal the gold.

But Dhiraj had other ideas as he mounted the pressure and dropped just two points, while Junya faltered with a 27, forcing a shoot-off at 5-5.

The Vijayawada archer then shot a perfect 10 to become only the second Indian after Dola Banerjee to win gold in the event that marks the culmination of archery's premier international circuit.

Dhiraj earlier knocked out Rio Olympics silver medallist Jean-Charles Valladont of France 7-1 (28-25, 28-28, 29-24, 29-28) without dropping a set to storm into the summit clash.

Continuing his momentum from the quarters, Dhiraj began by dropping just two points to put early pressure on the 37-year-old veteran.

However Valladont levelled the second set at 28-all to make it 1-3, but Dhiraj shot two near-flawless sets across the next six arrows, dropping just two points to seal the issue 7-1.

Dhiraj began his campaign by defeating Berkim Tumer of Turkey in straight sets 7-1 (28-25, 29-26, 28-28) in his quarterfinal match.

Dhiraj was solid from the beginning and started off by dropping just two points from his first three arrows. He was even better in the second set, where he shot two 10s and a 9 to take a 4-0 lead and needed just a tied third set to advance.

It happened likewise as both archers shot 28 each in the third set, giving the Indian his second semifinal appearance in the World Cup Final.

In his maiden appearance in the World Cup Final in Hermosillo in 2023, Dhiraj also made the semifinal before losing in the bronze-medal playoff.

In the compound section, Abhishek Verma has two medals from the World Cup Final -- a silver in Mexico City in 2015 and a bronze in Samsun in 2018, while Jyothi Surekha Vennam has one medal -- a silver in the Nanjing edition last year.

Eight athletes each in men's recurve, women's recurve, men's compound and women's compound competed for the coveted season-ending titles.

The 32 finalists secured their places either by winning one of the four World Cup stages -- in Puebla, Shanghai, Antalya and Madrid -- or by accumulating enough points in the Archery World Cup rankings.

The one-day competition had straightforward knockout format beginning with the quarterfinals, meaning two wins are enough for an archer to assure himself of a medal.

Dhiraj qualified for the elite eight-member field by virtue of his victory at World Cup Stage 3 in Antalya.

No other Indian archer made the cut across the recurve and compound sections in the men's and women's categories.