How the archers perform in the ranking round determines, to a large extent, their prospects for the rest of the Games. And on
Thursday at Esplanade des Invalides, the Indians came up with some solid performances to make it directly to the men’s and women’s team quarterfinals.
Leading the way was Dhiraj Bommadevara, arguably the country’s best archer at the moment, as he bounced back from a slow start to shoot a superb 681 and finish fourth in the men’s individual ranking list. His impressive outing helped the Indian men’s team (perhaps the best bet for an archery medal) clinch the third seeding and avoid facing powerhouse Korea until the final.
Both the men’s and women’s teams finished in the top four, thus making it directly to the quarterfinals.
Given the Korean domination in recurve archery, it’s significant that India have avoided them before the quarterfinal stages in all three team events (men’s, women’s and mixed team).
On the women’s side, it was Ankita Bhakat who outshone teammates Deepika Kumari (former world No.1) and Bhajan Kaur to finish 11th in the individual standings. The Indian women’s team clinched the fourth seeding in the process, but will have to contend with Korea in a potential semifinal.
The 26-year-old Ankita scored 666 to be placed 11th, followed by Bhajan Kaur (22nd with 559) and Deepika (23rd with 658). India finished fourth with 1983 points. South Korea topped the standings with 2046 points, an Olympic record.
India’s Dhiraj Bommadevara, left, Tarundeep Rai, center, and Pravin Ramesh Jadhav, right, compete during the men’s archery individual ranking round at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, July 25, 2024, in Paris, France. AP/PTI
The Indian men collected a total of 2013 points, led by Dhiraj (681). For the first half of the ranking round, in which every archer has to shoot 72 arrows, Dhiraj was trailing Tarundeep Rai, who is appearing in his fourth Olympics. But Dhiraj stormed back in the second half of the event, shooting a 346 after 335 at the 36-arrow halfway mark. Rai ended 14th with 674 points while Pravin Jadhav finished 39th with 658. India will face either Turkey or Colombia in the men’s quarterfinals.
The Dhiraj show
In the women’s team, it was Ankita leading the way right from the word go as Deepika shot a 6 in her first End of six arrows and never quite recovered (she’d go on to shoot a 5 later). Deepika is on a comeback trail and while she is still the country’s most decorated archer, she missed out on a chance to top her team’s standings and get into the mixed event with Dhiraj.
But the team can be pleased with a top-four billing even though that puts them on course to take on Korea in the final four. For a measure of how difficult that task is, Korea has never lost a match in the women’s team event in the history of the Olympics, and are 9-time champions. Before that, Ankita and Co have to face the winner between France and the Netherlands.
Dhiraj, the World Cup bronze medallist from Antalya, had early hiccups but bounced back strongly. While the National Olympic Committee does get the option to choose who participates in the mixed team event irrespective of the results in the ranking round, Dhiraj made the decision easier by overtaking Tarundeep in the latter half.
In the individual event, Dhiraj has done well to avoid top seed Kim Woojin and reigning Olympic champion Mete Gazoz, who are both in the top quarter of the draw. Dhiraj does face a tricky second-round clash against Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Mauro Nespoli but the Indian defeated the Italian archer in Antalya earlier this year. In the women’s individual event, Ankita and Bhajan are drawn to face each other in the second round itself.
Korea’s Lim shatters World Record
In 2021, it was An San who broke through as Korea’s next big thing in archery, clinching all three gold medals possible. But, in a scary confirmation of the depth Korea have, she couldn’t even make the squad for Paris. Instead, the contingent comprised three Olympic rookies and one of them was Lim Sihyeon, who shot a stunning world record score of 694 to top the standings, while compatriot Suhyeon Nam scored 688 to finish second.
In the men’s event too, Korea were on top with Kim Woojin shooting 688 followed by Kim Je Deok (682).
