Dhiraj Bommadevara

Lore & Background

Dhiraj Bommadevara began archery in 2006 at the Volga Archery Academy in Vijayawada under Cherukuri Satyanarayana. His father, Bommadevara Shravan Kumar, was a technical official at the Archery Association of India. Dhiraj studied at SRR and CVR Government Degree College, Vijayawada, and trained at the ASI in Pune for four years before joining the Indian Army as a Havaldar in 2021. He is backed by Olympic Gold Quest (OGQ).

In 2021, he won a gold medal at the World Archery Youth Championships with Parth Salunkhe and Aditya Choudhary. At the 2022 Asian Games, he broke the 1440 world record with a score of 1386, surpassing Brady Ellison's previous mark of 1376, and won a silver medal in the men's recurve team event with Atanu Das and Tushar Shelke. In 2023, he finished second in the ranking stage at the World Championships but exited in the round of 16; later that year he won men's team silver and individual bronze at the World Cup in Antalya, defeating Brady Ellison in the round of 16. At the 2023 Archery World Cup Finals in Hermosillo, he defeated five-time Olympic champion Kim Woo-jin and finished fourth overall. In 2024, he won mixed team bronze with Ankita Bhakat in Shanghai.

At the 2024 Olympics, Dhiraj ranked fourth in the ranking round with a score of 681, the second-best Olympic ranking score by an Indian archer. He lost a close individual match 5-6 (10-10+) to Canada's Eric Peters in the 1/16 elimination round. In the men's team event with Pravin Jadhav and Tarundeep Rai, he reached the quarterfinals before losing to Turkey. He and Ankita Bhakat competed in India's first-ever Olympic archery medal match, the mixed team bronze medal match, but lost 2-6 to the USA's Brady Ellison and Casey Kaufhold.

Post-Olympics, Dhiraj won men's team silver (with Atanu Das and Tarundeep Rai) and individual bronze (defeating soon-to-be world champion Andrés Temiño) at the first stage of the 2026 Archery World Cup in Florida. After a slump in later World Cup stages and the World Championships, he secured a historic gold medal at the 2025 Asian Archery Championships, defeating compatriot Rahul Pawariya 6-2 to become the first Indian male recurve champion. In 2026, he qualified for the Asian Games by finishing first in selection trials. In June 2026, he won his first gold of the season in the mixed team event at the third stage of the Archery World Cup in Antalya, and later that day won his first men's individual World Cup title, defeating Lee Woo Seok 7-3, becoming the first Indian male archer to win both individual and mixed team titles in the same stage. He also won the recurve mixed team gold medal with Sangeeta at the 5th CISM World Military Archery Championships.

Reader's Guide

Dhiraj Bommadevara's career marks several firsts for Indian archery. He broke the 1440 world record in 2022, eclipsing Brady Ellison's long-standing mark, and became the first Indian male recurve archer to win the Asian Archery Championships in 2025. At the 2024 Olympics, he and Ankita Bhakat competed in India's first-ever Olympic archery medal match, finishing fourth in the mixed team event. His 2026 season included a historic double at the Antalya World Cup stage, where he became the first Indian male archer to win both the individual and mixed team titles on the same day. He also won a gold medal at the CISM World Military Archery Championships. His achievements have established him as a leading figure in Indian recurve archery, with multiple World Cup medals and a world record to his name.

Did You Know?

• Dhiraj broke Brady Ellison's 1440 world record by scoring 1386 in 2022.
• He and Ankita Bhakat contested India's first Olympic archery medal match in 2024.

Roots in Vijayawada & the Making of an Archer

Dhiraj Bommadevara was born on 4 September 2001 in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, a city that would shape every facet of his early archery journey. His father, Bommadevara Shravan Kumar, served as a technical official with the Archery Association of India, meaning the sport was woven into the family's daily rhythm long before Dhiraj ever drew a bow. In 2006, as a young child, he began training at the Volga Archery Academy in his hometown under coach Cherukuri Satyanarayana, laying the technical and mental foundations that would carry him through two decades of competition. Academically, he pursued his degree at the SRR and CVR Government Degree College, also in Vijayawada. Beyond the sport, Dhiraj answered a call to national service: after four years of training at the Army Sports Institute in Pune, he enlisted in the Indian Army in 2021, earning the rank of Havaldar. His Olympic aspirations are further supported by the Olympic Gold Quest program, which provides elite Indian athletes with the resources to compete at the highest level.

Paris 2024 — India's First Olympic Archery Medal Match

The 2024 Summer Olympics marked Dhiraj's first appearance on the Olympic stage, and it delivered a moment that etched itself into Indian sporting memory. In the ranking round, he posted a score of 681, which stood as the second-best ranking score ever recorded by an Indian archer at the Games. His individual campaign ended in a heartbreakingly tight 5-6 (10-10+) defeat to Canada's Eric Peters in the round of 16, a match decided by a single arrow's margin. In the Men's Team event, he partnered with Pravin Jadhav and veteran Tarundeep Rai, advancing to the quarterfinals before falling to Turkey. The defining moment, however, came in the Mixed Team event alongside Ankita Bhakat. Together, they carried India into the bronze-medal match — the nation's first-ever Olympic medal contest in archery. They ultimately lost 2-6 to the American duo of Brady Ellison and Casey Kaufhold, finishing fourth. The near-miss left an indelible mark, proving Indian archery could reach the final stages of Olympic competition.

Historic Firsts — 2025 to 2026

The period from 2025 into 2026 saw Dhiraj shatter a series of barriers that had long defined Indian men's recurve archery. At the 2025 Asian Archery Championships, he claimed the individual gold by defeating fellow Indian Rahul Pawariya 6-2, becoming the first male recurve champion from India in the event's history — a feat he accomplished without qualifying for any team events. The momentum carried into 2026 with extraordinary force. At the third stage of the Archery World Cup in Antalya, Turkey, he won the mixed team gold and, on the same day, captured his maiden men's individual World Cup title by defeating South Korea's Lee Woo Seok 7-3. This made him the first Indian male archer to sweep both the individual and mixed team titles at a single World Cup stage. The crowning achievement came on 13 September in Saltillo, Mexico, at the World Cup Final. After dispatching Turkey's Berkim Tümer and France's Jean-Charles Valladont with identical 7-1 scores, he edged Japan's Nakanishi Junya 6-5 to claim gold — the first Indian male archer ever to win a World Cup Final title.

Soldier-Archer — Service Beyond the Range

Dhiraj's identity extends well beyond the archery range, shaped by a deep commitment to national service. In 2021, after completing four years of rigorous training at the Army Sports Institute in Pune, he joined the Indian Army, earning the rank of Havaldar. This dual identity — elite international competitor and serving soldier — is rare in the world of archery and speaks to a discipline that transcends sport. His military affiliation also opened a unique competitive avenue: at the CISM World Military Archery Championships, he partnered with Sangeeta to win the Recurve Mixed Team gold medal, representing India on the global military sports stage. This path reflects a broader tradition in Indian archery where the Army has long been a crucible for world-class talent. Dhiraj's journey from a child at the Volga Archery Academy in Vijayawada to a Havaldar competing at the Olympics and World Cup Finals embodies a trajectory that is as much about duty and service as it is about chasing gold.