India’s archers have secured direct entry into the quarterfinals for both the men’s and women’s team events at the Paris Olympics, led by the impressive performances of Dhiraj Bommadevara and Ankita Bhakat. India’s campaign started positively as the teams finished third and fourth respectively in the ranking round on Thursday.
The top four teams in the standings advance directly to the quarterfinals, while teams ranked 5th to 12th must compete in the Round of 16. The Indian men’s team, seeded third, will avoid facing the dominant Korean team in the next round. Both Indian teams now need just two wins to secure Olympic medals.
Dhiraj, a World Cup bronze medallist who previously defeated Tokyo Olympics silver winner Mauro Nespoli, finished fourth in the individual round. Ankita and Dhiraj, who performed excellently in the second half of their competition, are seeded fifth in the mixed team round of 16 event.
India’s mixed team finished fifth with 1347 points, with Dhiraj scoring 681 and Ankita scoring 666. The mixed team score is determined by the best individual scores from the women’s and men’s events. The Indian men’s team ranked third in the ranking round with 2013 points. Dhiraj shone with a fourth-place individual finish with 681 points, while Tarundeep Rai, in his fourth Olympics, finished 14th with 674 points, and Pravin Jadhav finished 39th with 658 points. Korea’s Woojin Kim and Je Deok Kim secured the top two individual spots.
Ankita Bhakat, a Games debutant, emerged as the top-ranked Indian woman in the women’s individual qualifications, finishing 11th, while Bhajan Kaur and Deepika Kumari ranked 22nd and 23rd respectively. India’s women’s team finished fourth in the ranking round with 1983 points, behind South Korea, China, and Mexico. India will face the winner of the contest between France and the Netherlands in the quarterfinals, with a potential semifinal showdown against South Korea.
In the women’s individual section, Korea’s Lim Sihyeon set a world record with a score of 694, while Suhyeon Nam finished second with 688 points, and China’s Yang Xiaolei was third with 673. Ankita’s strong performance was a bright spot for India, despite four-time Olympian Deepika Kumari’s disappointing result.
Midway through the men’s qualification round, India was placed sixth, with Rai in 14th, Dhiraj in 24th, and Jadhav in 37th place. However, the team made a strong comeback, jumping to third place after set seven and improving to second place after set nine, before eventually settling at third.
India will face either Turkey or Colombia in the men’s quarterfinals.
