Paris Olympics 2024: Indian women's archery team qualifies for quarter-finals at sports event
Paris Olympics 2024: The Indian women's archery team, comprising Bhajan Kaur, Deepika Kumari and Ankita Bhakat, directly qualified for the quarter-finals of the event at the Paris Olympics by securing a fourth-place finish with 1983 points.
In the Women's Archery Ranking Round, South Korea topped the standings with 2046 points, followed by China with 1996 points and Mexico with 1986 points.
Indian archer Ankita Bhakat achieved her season-best score of 666 points, securing the 11th spot and earning the 11th seed in the women's competition.
During the ranking round, each archer shot 72 arrows divided into two halves of 36 arrows each. Each set comprised six arrows, and there were six sets per half.
The top four seeds received direct entry into the quarterfinals. At the end of the first set, Indian archers had the following standings: Ankita Bhakat with 54 points in 22nd place (X, 10, 9, 9, 8, 8), Deepika Kumari with 51 points in 51st place (10, 9, 9, 9, 8, 6), and Bhajan Kaur also with 51 points in 52nd place (9, 9, 9, 9, 8, 7).
In the subsequent two sets, Ankita and Bhajan started to improve their standings, rising to seventh and 41st place, respectively. On the other hand, Deepika rose to the 36th spot in the second set with 54 points but slipped to the 39th spot in the third set with 54 points.
By the end of the third set, India’s archery team had climbed to fourth place out of 12. Ankita initially dropped to 8th in the fourth set, while Deepika and Bhajan improved to 31st and 38th, respectively. In the fifth set, Ankita fell to 10th, and Deepika and Bhajan rose to 23rd and 33rd. After the first half, India was 6th, with Ankita 12th, Deepika 37th, and Bhajan 23rd. They started the second half strong, moving up to fourth. By the final set, Deepika scored 57 points to finish 23rd, while Ankita ended 11th with 666 points.
By the end of the third set in the Women's Archery Ranking Round, India climbed to the fourth seed out of 12 teams. However, in the fourth set, Ankita Bhakat briefly dropped to 8th place, while Deepika Kumari and Bhajan Kaur improved to 31st and 38th positions, respectively. In the fifth set, Ankita fell to 10th, but Bhajan and Deepika advanced to 23rd and 33rd places. The first half concluded with India in 6th place, with Ankita at 12th (335 points), Deepika at 37th (327 points), and Bhajan at 23rd (330 points).
The second half started strong for India, with Ankita falling to 15th (389 points) while Deepika (25th, 384 points) and Bhajan (28th, 383 points) rose. India initially maintained fourth seeding but slipped to fifth by the end of the ninth set, despite Ankita staying 11th. By the tenth set, India reclaimed fourth place with Ankita at 12th, Bhajan at 21st, and Deepika at 28th.
In the final set, Deepika excelled with four consecutive 10s, ending in 23rd place with 658 points. Ankita finished 11th with 666 points after scoring 54 points in the final set.
- With inputs from agencies
