Mumbai, Dec. 3 -- "Earlier, if we had to play a Korean, we'd think, baap re, bahut marenge (we'll be beaten heavily)." This is Purnima Mahato, former India archer and current coach, summing up the mentality of the country's recurve archers vis-a-vis South Korean opponents in the past. "I wasn't intimidated... I thought no matter who came up against me, be it a Korean, I had to shoot my best." This is teen Sharvari Shende, after beating two Koreans to become the U-18 world youth recurve champion in August. This generational arc not only reflects a subtle mindset shift in the current crop of Indians but also a gradual decline in the aura of invincibility around recurve archery's most intimidating force. Korea, make no mistake, are still up there as the benchmark, yet the gap - in the minds of Indians at least - is no longer as wide. At the recent Asian Championships in Dhaka, India took three of the five recurve gold medals to Korea's one. That included the men's team beating Korea in the final to break their title stranglehold and Ankita Bhakat defeating Paris Games silver medallist Nam Su-hyeon in the women's final. Korea were without their top three men. Still, defeating their next-in-line was an upbeat start for someone like 21-year-old Rahul Pawariya. Indians have also bettered their best in the last couple of years. The men took the 2024 World Cup Stage 1 gold defeating a strong Korean unit comprising Olympic champions Kim Je-deok and Kim Woo-jin. At the 2023 World Cup Final, Dhiraj Bommadevara stunned Kim, a five-time Olympic champion. Add Sharvari's junior silverware going past Koreans in the semis and final to the list. These may be sporadic results, but could be a sign of a narrowing gap. Dhiraj, India's top recurve archer, believes it's a long, ongoing process. He puts it down to multiple factors - a general shift in attitude, greater familiarity, presence of Korean coaches, exposure camps in Korea - while adding a global touch. "The scores overall have gone up across countries," said Dhiraj. "Earlier, Koreans would always have a gap of 10-20 points over others. Now, it is more neck-and-neck." At the 2025 World Championships, only two of the five recurve titles went to Korea (Spain and Chinese Taipei won the others). At the preceding youth Worlds, USA's U-21 men's recurve team beat Korea for gold while the individual U-18 recurve crowns were held by an Indian and a Briton. "It is largely because a lot of countries have hired Korean coaches," said Dhiraj. Including India. Coached by Kim Hagyong from 2017 till the pandemic, Dhiraj reunited with the Korean after the 2024 Paris Games. "It does make an impact - mostly mentally," said Dhiraj. "He tells me that if you want to become world champion, you don't just have to beat the Koreans, you have to beat everyone. You don't need to highlight their presence. So, for us, it's not just about 'Korean, Korean, Korean' anymore. The focus is more on my level than the opponent's nationality." Ahead of Paris Olympics, renowned Korean coach Kim Hyung Tak was in India for a camp. Ahead of this year's Worlds, a bunch of Indians spent a month training in Gwangju. Rahul, who beat Korean No.4 Seo Mingi in Dhaka, was among them. "The guy who I beat, I'll keep facing him in the future. This win gave me belief that I can beat him again," said Rahul. "There's a lot more familiarity about Koreans now." The familiarity helps in many ways. Dhiraj, for instance, uses his Korea training trips to familiarise with the diverse conditions at their "umpteen grounds". "Each ground has different wind conditions. Some have trees on the left, some mountains on the right. They are prepared for everything. When we go there, it helps us too," he said. Rahul picked up a key Korean trait while in Gwangju. "The biggest learning was to see their mentality of repeating the same things over and over in training," he said. What Mahato sees in the younger Indian archers as national coach is their getting "better at handling fear", even while facing Koreans. Sharvari, 16, at the youth Worlds was an example. "It's not like in one set they (Koreans) will hit 10-10-10 every time. They will also give you a chance, you just have to take it," she had said. Like Ankita did in Dhaka when Paris medallist Su-hyeon started slow and hit 7 in the second set. Mahato, Ankita's coach, said she shot a lot quicker, which helped calm the nerves. Koreans are brilliant at shooting fast, something Ankita developed during the fast-paced Archery Premier League. "She got the confidence at the Asian Championships that she can also do well while shooting quicker, even against a Korean," said Mahato. "This won't mean she will beat her again the next time, but now that she has beaten her, she has the belief." That remains the biggest challenge - to do it consistently and in higher stakes and pressure events. Taking on the Koreans at the Asian Championships and the Asian Games, for example, is a different ball game. Like Hangzhou two years ago showed, India are not there yet. Japan next year will be a test of whether these sporadic upsets can turn into a more significant shock....