Anand Mahindra is in awe of Dhiraj Bommadevara as he becomes first Indian male archer to win recurve World Cup Final, but feels there's even a 'bigger story' : 'Are we on...'

Dhiraj Bommadevara made history at the Archery World Cup Final 2026. The archer made India proud by bagging the men’s individual title, beating Japan’s Nakanishi Junya 6-5 in a gold medal match. He also made another milestone – he became the first Indian male recurve archer to win an individual title at the Archery World Cup Final. Billionaire Anand Mahindra took to X to celebrate the win and honour Dhiraj. “When an Army man needed one arrow for history, he shot a perfect 10…” he wrote.

He noted that At the previous Asian Championships, India dominated the medal table with six gold medals, finishing above South Korea. This year, Indian archers have continued to challenge the sport’s established giants, securing notable victories over powerhouse nations such as South Korea and China at World Cup competitions.

He then went on to speculate that Indian archery could be on the cusp of a much-needed golden age.


Dhiraj is the second Indian archer to have accomplished this feat, succeeding Dola Banerjee, who won the women’s recurve title in Dubai in 2007.

Dhiraj Bommadevara is originally from Andhra Pradesh's Vijayawada. Bommadevara Shravan Kumar, his father, was formerly employed by the Archery Association of India as a technical official. Dhiraj finished his schooling at Vijayawada's SRR and CVR Government Degree College.


He trained under teacher Cherukuri Satyanarayana at the Volga Archery Academy in Vijayawada, where he started his archery career in 2006. He trained for four years at the Army Sports Institute in Pune before enlisting in the Indian Army in 2021 as a Havaldar.

Olympic Gold Quest, which encourages talented Indian athletes to strive for sporting greatness, has also supported Dhiraj's athletic endeavours.