India’s women’s archery team, consisting of Deepika Kumari, Ankita Bhakat, and Bhajan Kaur, qualified directly for the quarterfinals of the Paris Olympics 2024 after finishing fourth in the ranking round on Thursday.
With a score of 666, Ankita Bhakat placed 11th, and her fellow rookie, Bhajan Kaur, placed 22nd with a score of 659. With 658 points, ace archer Deepika Kumari came in 23rd.
Bhakat was the top-ranked Indian lady in the women’s individual ranking event for the archery sport at the Paris Olympics, coming in at 11th place, ahead of Bhajan Kaur (22nd) and Deepika Kumari (23rd).
With 21 bullseyes and 83 tens, Team India finished with 1983 points. With 2046 points, Korea became victorious in the standings, trailed only by China and Mexico, with 1996 and 1986 points, respectively.
While Deepika, India’s greatest archer, found it difficult to get into her stride early on, Ankita had a season-best performance and was the most reliable archer of the day. With 694 points, Lim Sihyeon finished first in the round and set a new world record.
Ankita Bhakat opened the first round for India with a bullseye and a 10, then she finished with two 9s and two 8s. Deepika’s first round with a 10 ended poorly when she was only able to hit a 6 with the final arrow. Ankita shot up to 12th place in the second round. But Deepika had to go three rounds to land her first bullseye.
At the end of the eighth series of arrows, Deepika scored 55 and Bhajan scored 54. The three players’ combined efforts propelled India to the fourth spot in the team rankings.
Mexico won the match against India by three points, and Ankita scored 666 points to win. Deepika finished with 658 points, while Bhajan scored 659.
The latter stages of the Olympic archery tournament in Paris will be from July 28 to August 4.
