Paris Olympics 2024: Indian Archers Aim For Breakthrough Performance
Indian archery team includes veteran Deepika Kumari, Tarundeep Rai, debutant Dhiraj Bommadevara, Ankita Bhakat, and Bhajan Kauralong with Pravin Jadhav.
The Paris Olympics 2024 are set to begin on Friday. The India contingent includes 117 Indian athletes competing in 16 sports, which is the country's second largest contingent in the history of the Olympics after the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, which saw 121 athletes competing.
Paris will set a record with the opening ceremony on the Seine River. Each national delegation will get a boat to witness the event. The boats will be equipped with cameras so viewers can see the athletes up close.
India started its Olympic journey on Thursday, with six of its archers competing in the rank rounds at Les Invalides. The Indian archery team includes veteran Deepika Kumari, Tarundeep Rai, debutant Dhiraj Bommadevara, Ankita Bhakat, and Bhajan Kauralong, along with Pravin Jadhav.
After 12 long years since the 2012 London Olympics, India will field a full team of six archers locking horns in all five categories—men's team/individual, women's team/individual, and mixed team.
Men's Team
The men's archery team directly qualified for the quarterfinals after a stellar performance by Bommadevara Dhiraj, Tarundeep Rai, and Pravin Jadhav. They secured third position with 2,013 points. Dhiraj topped India's ranking by securing 681 points, finishing in fourth position. South Korea topped the chart with 2,049 points, followed by France with 2,025 points.
They will either compete with Turkey or Colombia in the quarterfinals and avoid the lethal South Koreans in the semifinals.
Source: Tarundeep Rai\X
Past Achievements
Bommadevara Dhiraj
Making his debut in 2017, Dhiraj won a bronze medal in the 2024 World Cup in Turkey. He was part of the Indian men's team that claimed the silver medal at the Asian Games 2023. Dhiraj also secured a gold medal in the 2021 World Archer Youth Championships.
Tarundeep Rai
Legendary Indian footballer Bhaichung Bhutia’s cousin, Tarundeep Rai, has earned a silver at the World Championships, and nine World Cup medals along with three gold, a silver, and a bronze in the Asian Games. He won two silvers and a bronze at the Asian Championships. Rai will make his fourth appearance in Paris, aiming to win his first Olympic medal. He is also a Padma Shri recipient—India's fourth-highest civilian award.
Pravin Jadhav
Jadhav tasted success by securing a bronze medal with the men's recurve team at Asia Cup Stage 1 in 2016. He won a silver medal at the 2019 World Championship in Den Bosch, along with his other teammates. His performance also helped his team qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Women's Team
The women's team trio—Deepika Kumari, Bhajan Kaur, and Ankita Bhakat—also secured a position in the quarterfinals by finishing the game in fourth position, obtaining 1,983 points. Bhakat topped India's chart by scoring 666 points. South Korea topped the list by scoring 2,046 points followed by China and Mexico.
India will face either France or the Netherlands in the quarterfinals. If they clear the quarterfinals, they will lock horns with South Korea.
Past Achievements
Source: Bhajan Kaur with Bommadevara Dhiraj (Kaur's X account)
Deepika Kumari
Kumari won silver medals at the World Championships in 2011 and again in 2015. She also earned silver medals in the World Cup in 2011, 2012, and 2013. Additionally, she secured gold medals in both the individual and team recurve events at the Commonwealth Games, and she claimed a bronze medal at the Asian Games in 2010. In recognition of her achievements, she was honored with the Arjuna Award in 2012 and the Padma Shri in 2016.
Bhajan Kaur
Kaur claimed her berth in the Paris Olympics after winning the gold medal in the Olympic Qualifier held in Turkey, by defeating the top seed Mobina Fallah. In 2023, she earned the bronze medal at the youth World Championships. In August 2023, Kaur was part of the national team that earned a bronze medal at the Archery World Cup in France. The previous year, she reached the semi-finals of the World Cup after defeating top seed Alejandra Valencia 6–5 in the quarterfinals.
Ankita Bhakat
Bhakat came into the limelight last year, when her team won the bronze medal in the women's team recurve event in the Asian Games. She also reached the quarterfinals of the World Archery Olympic Qualifier 2024 in Turkey but lost to Iran's Mobina Fallah in the final eight. In the ranking rounds of the Paris Olympics, she finished in 11th position with 666 points leaving behind the former world number one Deepika Kumari and Bhajan Kaur. Both held the 23rd and 22nd spots, respectively.
