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Bommadevara Sravan Kumar, archer Dhiraj's father, expressed immense pride in his sons historic World Archery Championships gold, highlighting his years of dedication and six to seven hours of daily practice.
Bommadevara created history by winning the mens individual title at the Archery World Cup Final 2026 in Saltillo, Mexico, becoming the first Indian male archer to claim an individual crown at the season-ending event. "We were extremely happy when Dhiraj became a world champion. He has just achieved a historic gold medal at the World Archery Championships, and behind this achievement is a story of years of hard work. He used to practise for six to seven hours every day. He started his journey in 2006, and after 19 years, India finally won a gold medal at the World Archery Championships," Sravan Kumar told ANI. Dhirajs family member Bommadevara Chandra Prakash praised his dedication and discipline from a young age, highlighting his strong passion for sports and crediting his parents support for shaping his successful sporting journey. "Dhiraj has been an outstanding and exceptional child from a very young age. He developed dedication and discipline early on, and what we have observed throughout his childhood is his immense passion for sports. His father and mother have played a huge role in shaping him into the person he is today," Prakash said. defeated Japans Nakanishi Junya 6-5 in a thrilling gold medal match that went into a shoot-off. Dhiraj held his nerve under pressure, hitting a 10 in the deciding attempt to beat Nakanishis nine and secure the biggest individual title of his career. With this achievement, Dhiraj became only the second Indian archer to win an individual title at the Archery World Cup Final, following Dola Banerjee, who won the womens recurve title in Dubai in 2007. Dhiraj, Indias lone representative at the 2026 World Cup Final, produced a dominant run through the eight-player field. He began his campaign with a convincing 7-1 victory over Olympic medallist Berkim Tmer of Trkiye in the quarter-finals before defeating two-time Olympic silver medallist Jean-Charles Valladont of France 7-1 in the semi-finals. The final against fourth-seeded Nakanishi was closely fought, with neither archer able to establish a clear advantage. The opening set ended level at 28-28, before Nakanishi won the second set 29-28. Dhiraj responded by taking the third set 29-28, but the Japanese archer regained the lead with a 30-28 fourth-set win. Needing victory in the fifth set to force a shoot-off, Dhiraj delivered under pressure, winning 28-27 to level the match at 5-5 before sealing the title in the decider. (ANI)
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