Archer Ankita Bhakat left behind the experienced Deepika Kumari to finish the best 11th among Indians in the Paris Olympics women’s individual recurve qualification, helping the country secure a quarter-final berth in the team event by finishing fourth.
Debutant Ankita (26 years) remained the best ranked among Indian women archers with 666 points, followed by Bhajan Kaur at 22nd with 559 points and Deepika Kumari at 23rd with 658 points.
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In the team event, India finished fourth with 1983 points, while South Korea topped with 2046 points. China was the runner-up, while Mexico finished third.
The top four teams in the team table qualify directly for the quarter-finals, while the teams ranked fifth to 12th will play round of 16 matches. India will face the winner of the match between France and Netherlands in the quarter-finals.
If the Indian women’s team crosses the quarter-final hurdle, then it may have to face the strong Korean team in the semi-finals. The Korean team has been unbeatable in the Olympics, having won its ninth consecutive medal in Tokyo three years ago.
In the individual category, Korea’s Lim Sihyeon topped the table with a world record score of 694, while her compatriot Suhyeon Nam stood second with 688 points. China’s Yang Xiaolei stood third with 673 points.
Deepika will not play in the mixed team event for the first time as Ankita topped the Indians. Ankita will pair with the archer who topped the men’s qualification in the mixed team finals.