Dhiraj Bommadevara secures India's first Olympic quota in archery

Published at :November 11, 2023 at 3:46 PM

Modified at :January 14, 2024 at 1:03 AM

(Courtesy : Hindustan Times)

He lost in the final and settled for silver.

Dhiraj Bommadevara helped India secure it’s first Paris Olympics 2024 quota in recurve archery after defeating Iran’s Mohammadhossein Golshani 6-0 in the semifinals of the Asian Archery Continental Qualifying Tournament 2024 held in Bangkok, Thailand.

As per the qualification system, the two recurve men archers who get through to the final are assured of a Olympic quota. Thereby, Dhiraj secured a quota after progressing to the final. However, he settled for silver after losing in the shoot-off in final.

In the final, Dhiraj Bommadevara lost to Lin from Chinese Taipei after settling for five-all in the regulation time. The Indian had a upper hand at (5-3) and had to just shoot a 9 to clinch gold. But he went on to score 8 and hand Lin another shot at victory.

Dhiraj was the first to shoot and scored a sub-par 9 to which Lin, 22, replied with a perfect 10 to seal the deal. After a below average season, Indian recurve archery has finally secured a quota and end the season on a bright note. Dhiraj will now head to South Korea and train in the high performance centre.

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Meanwhile other archer in fray, Tarundeep Rai lost in the quarterfinals (0-6) against Lin thereby ending his stay in the tournament. In the women’s singles, Ankita Bhakat the lone Indian archer went down in the quarterfinals to Kazakhstan’s Abdusattarova Ziyodakhon (4-6).

After leading in the initial series, Bhakat lost momentum and scored two low scores of 24 each. The opponent from Kazakhstan also had a tough time and just crept past Bhakat. The windy conditions in Bangkok has played a crucial role in the match.