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China unable to repeat Puebla success as India win recurve women team gold at Shanghai

10 May 2026

Shanghai, China

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In a potential practice run for the Asian Games, India upset home favourite China in the recurve women's team final at Shanghai 2026 — stage two of the World Cup circuit - to claim their first World Cup gold in the event since Paris 2021.

With Zhu Jingyi, Huang Yuwei and Yu Qi being the form team thus far of the outdoor season, having one World Cup gold under their belt in Puebla — stage one — and boasting the former two athletes who grabbed gold in Florida last year, it seemed as if Shanghai was theirs to take.

They would be forgetting, though, that Deepika Kumari, Kumkum Anil Mohod and Ankita Bhakat were the ones that defeated the 10-time Olympic gold medallists Korea earlier in the week, 5-1 — the margin of victory as much of a shock as the result.

China didn't quite give the Indian trio as much room for comfort, with the teams trading ends, both struggling to find their finest forms in the ever-changing wind at the Riverside Financial Plaza.

Tied at 4-4 and China opening the door with an 8-9-9 score, third shooter Kumari needed to shoot at least a nine to give India their first World Cup recurve women's team gold since Paris 2021 — and with a smile on her face, she did just that.

“Last year was not too good, and last year I won a bronze medal here,” said the four-time Olympian Kumari. “I didn't shoot well then, either individual or team, so you can say that I'm heading in a good direction.”

“When I shot the seven, I was a little bit distracted. A little bit because of my shooting and also my partner, because she was counting down and I saw the time board.

“That time I was a little distracted, but then it was good because my third member was not shooting well and she was a little bit nervous handling it.”

“I said to Ankita, ‘Don't worry, it's okay, it's going to be okay, just calm down, I'm focusing on it’.”

Whilst Kumari averaged a brilliant 9.22 and executed the crucial last arrow in the shoot-off — easily the most difficult part of an archery match — still the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games champion was not satisfied.

The 31-year-old was self-deprecating about her individual performances, with a 14th-place finish in the recurve women's qualification and a respectable 6-4 defeat to the reigning world champion Kang Chaeyoung in the 1/8 round.

Kumari has long carried the hopes of a gigantic nation at numerous Olympic and Asian Games, but has not yet won gold at either. She has been part of India’s first recurve women’s team bronze medal winning team at the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou.

Should she make the team for Aichi-Nagoya, the expectation for her to break that deadlock — in what could be her final one — will be as heightened as ever, hence her strict performance criteria.

“You saw this week, I'm still struggling. I'm trying to gather myself to do better and better, and I hope for the best. That's it.”

She may not be too pleased with her shooting, but to the rest of Indian archery fans that will have one eye on Japan later this year, they will be hoping their leading light for many years, the Tlaxcala 2024 World Cup runner-up, can keep up today's valiance in individuals, mixed team or women's team.

Competition in Shanghai concludes with recurve individual finals in the afternoon.