Meet Kumkum: Sweet box maker’s daughter with 2nd-hand bow on her way to Asian Games

The Indian team of Ankita Bhakat, Deepika Kumari and Kumkum Mohod pose after winning the title in the Women’s team recurve final in the World Cup Shanghai Stage 2 on Sunday. World Archery

“Sweet boxes banane se hi ghar charta hai aur Kumkum ki archery bhi (It is the sweet boxes that run our home, and so does Kumkum’s archery),” he told The Indian Express. “She was shooting in Shanghai with a second-hand bow, which she has been using for the last five years. And when she won the team gold, I called Raghuvir Mithaiyan – for whom I once made boxes – to order sweets to celebrate. Today also, while I am on my way back to Amravati, I will call him for sweets.”

The bow is five years old – the second second-hand bow Kumkum has used since she started the sport in 2018. The first was wooden, bought with Rs 3,000 given by her grandmother. Six months after picking it up, she won a silver at the sub-junior nationals. When Kumkum came under the Khelo India scheme, her father drove her to training on his motorcycle – the shared auto had cost Rs 5,000 a month, and when the other children dropped out, the family could no longer split the fare.

The Indian team of Ankita Bhakat, Deepika Kumari and Kumkum Mohod pose after winning the title in the Women’s team recurve final in the World Cup Shanghai Stage 2 on Sunday. World Archery

“Yes, it’s tough,” Anil says. “But if we cannot make sacrifices for her, who else will.”

It was her mother Rupali who had started it all. In 2018, a relative’s daughter had taken up archery at coach Prafull Dange’s Radhey Archery Academy in Amravati. Rupali insisted – their only child would try it too. Dange saw something immediately.

“When she came to train under me, I was impressed with her stubbornness to learn. Her upper body strength, her shoulder position – Kumkum learnt very quickly. During Covid, we worked on short-distance shooting, something most archers avoid. It helped her use her back muscles to draw the bow automatically.”

Kumkum Mohod with her parents Rupali Mohod and Anil Manohar Mohod. (Special arrangement)

The rise has been steady. Last year’s nationals brought a bronze with the Maharashtra team. Against Korea in the semi-final, Kumkum shot an average of 9.5 as India won 5-1 – only the fourth time the Indian team has defeated them. In the final against China, her average was 9.22, matching Deepika Kumari. When it came to the deciding shoot-off, she shot a ten.

At the trials in Sonepat, she topped qualification, won six matches in the second stage and finished second behind Kirti Sharma. Deepika Kumari finished fourth and missed the Asian Games berth.

“This medal is a new start for me. A bow is a bow only and we have to shoot arrows. Apne par confidence aur ability par hi sab kuch matter karta hai (It all depends on one’s confidence and ability),” Kumkum told this paper last week.

Taking a train to Amravati from Delhi on Monday, Anil Mohod is already thinking about the next call. “With every medal or selection, I have to call my old clients to order sweets,” he says, and laughs.

Indian archery team for Asian Games – Recurve: Men: Dhiraj Bommadevara, Neeraj Chauhan, Yashedeep Bhoge; Women: Kirti Sharma, Kumkum Mohod, Ankita Bhakat; Compound: Men: Sahil Jadhav, Kushal Dalal, Thirumuru Ganesh; Women: Jyothi Surekha Vennam, Taniparthi Chikitha, Prithika Pardeep.