On Thursday, July 25, the Indian men’s archery team finished in third place in the ranking round at the Paris 2024, qualifying through to the quarter-final stage with a direct entry. The Indian trio of archers, namely Dhiraj Bommadevara, Tarundeep Rai, and Pravin Jadhav, scored a combined 2013 points, to finish behind South Korea (2049) and the hosts France (2025).
In the men’s individual ranking round, Dhiraj Bommadevara scored an impressive 681 points out of 720, to finish in fourth place behind Kim Woo-jin (686), Kim Je-deok (684), and Florian Unruh (681). His compatriot Tarundeep Singh took the 14th place with 674 points, while Pravin Jadhav took the 39th place with 658 points.
With such a great start in the qualification stage, Dhiraj Bommadevera has showcased that India got a chance to win their first medal in archery at the Olympics. But, there is a long way to go for him and the rest of the Indian archers to bring home glory from Paris 2024 in either individual or team events.
Earlier in the day, in the women’s team ranking round, India finished in fourth place with 1983 points, behind South Korea (2046), China (1996), and Mexico (1986). Regarding the individual ranking rounds, Bhajan Kaur took 11th place with 666 points, while Bhajan Kaur (659) and Deepika Kumari (658) finished in 22nd and 23rd places respectively.
In the women’s individual ranking round, at the end of 12 sets and 72 shots, Ankita Bhakat finished in 11th place with a score of 666, topping the chart among the Indian archers. Bhajan Kaur took the 22nd place with 659 points, while Deepika Kumari ended up a place behind him with 658 points.
The archery competition will continue at the Paris 2024 on Sunday, July 28, with the women’s team medal rounds.