Dhiraj Bommadevara Becomes First Indian Man to Win Archery World Cup Final

Dhiraj Bommadevara, an Indian archer, has written a new chapter in history by becoming the first Indian male to win the Archery World Cup Final. The 25-year-old archer won against Japan’s Nakanishi Junya in the exciting men’s recurve final at Saltillo, Mexico. The thrilling match was tied at 5-5 after five sets and the winner of the World Cup was declared based on a shoot-off. Dhiraj managed to hit a 10 out of 10, but Nakanishi managed only a nine out of ten. The triumph ensured India its first-ever World Cup Final gold medal for the men’s recurve and the biggest victory of Dhiraj’s career till date.

Indian Archer Dhiraj Bommadevara Scores Historic Shoot-Off

No. 10 ranked Dhiraj Bommadevara took on No. 20 ranked Nakanishi in a highly competitive final battle.

Set	Dhiraj	Nakanishi
1	28	28
2	28	29
3	29	28
4	28	30
5	28	27

With the contest tied at 5-5, the shoot-off determined the champion. Dhiraj’s 10 secured the gold medal, while Nakanishi’s nine handed the Indian archer a historic victory.

Indian Men End Dry Spell in Recurve Archery Championship

This win ends a long dry spell for the Indian men in the men’s recurve Archery World Cup Final as India was previously represented by Jayanta Talukdar who won bronze in the 2010 edition which was held in Edinburgh but there hasn’t been an Indian champion in the men’s event since then.

The win also comes from the third consecutive year that Dhiraj featured in the season-ending championship but he hasn’t been able to bring home any medals in the previous two years.

Second Indian Champion after Dola Banerjee

The win for Dhiraj also ends a long dry spell for individual champions from India as his country last saw individual gold medalists from archery World Cup Final when Dola Banerjee won the women’s championship in Dubai in 2007.

While Banerjee continues to remain the only individual champion from India, Deepika Kumari stands out as the most successful archer in the tournament winning six medals including five silver and one bronze in eight appearances.