Asian champion B. Dhiraj underlined his class as he guided India to beat formidable Korean archers and claim two recurve gold medals, in mixed team and individual, at the Archery World Cup Stage-3 in Antalya on Sunday.

Olympian Dhiraj joined hands with 17-year-old rookie Kumkum Mohod to topple more accomplished Koreans, including Olympic medallist Kim Je Deok and former World youth champion Oh Yejin, 5-1 (37-36, 37-36, 39-39) in the final to secure the mixed team gold.

Later, in an intensely fought match for the individual gold, the 24-year-old Dhiraj upset multiple World and Olympics medallist Korean Lee Woo Seok 7-3 (30-29, 29-28, 27-27, 27-29, 30-29).

Earlier, Dhiraj had rallied to defeat World Cup Stage and European medallist Moritz Wieser 6-4 (26-27, 28-28, 28-28, 30-27, 28-23) in the semifinals.

Atanu Das was the last Indian archer to win a World Cup Stage men’s individual gold in Guatemala City in 2021. India won its last mixed team gold through Tarundeep Rai and Ridhi Phor in Antalya in 2022.

This was a significant achievement as Korea won both gold medals since the mixed team event’s debut in the Olympics.

The two gold medals, achieved by beating superpower Korea, ahead of the all important Asian Games will give a lot of self-belief to the country’s archers.

“This is the result of our team work (of recurve and compound archers). We back each other and try to maintain a positive atmosphere despite losing matches narrowly. I thought that I was shooting alone (in individual matches to keep off pressure). Focusing on the process even after shooting a 10 worked, even though it was not easy,” Dhiraj told The Hindu.

“In mixed team, we thought we were shooting at the Asian Games. Kumkum followed my instructions well. We put in more effort and enjoyed our luck,” he added.