Paris Olympics 2024: Ankita Bhakat, Dhiraj Bommadevara fall short of historic archery medal

The Indian duo lost to USA’s Casey Kaufhold and Brady Ellison in bronze medal match.

In a historic yet heartbreaking moment for Indian archery, Ankita Bhakat and Dhiraj Bommadevara narrowly missed out on securing the country’s first-ever Olympic medal in the sport at Paris Olympics 2024. The pair lost 2-6 to Americans Casey Kaufhold and Brady Ellison in the bronze medal match of the mixed team event at the Paris Olympics on Friday.

Despite their defeat, the Bhakat and Bommadevara have become the first Indian archers to compete in an Olympic medal match. They had to settle for a fourth-place finish, the highest-ever by any Indian archers at the Olympics.

🇮🇳💔 𝗦𝗼 𝗰𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘆𝗲𝘁 𝘀𝗼 𝗳𝗮𝗿!Despite a stellar performance, Dhiraj and Ankita narrowly missed out on securing India's first-ever Olympic medal in archeryDuo finishes fourth in Mixed Recurve Event#Paris2024 #ParisOlympics2024 pic.twitter.com/nsNzISrD0z

— Khel Now (@KhelNow) August 2, 2024

In the bronze medal match, the USA team drew first blood, winning the opening set 38-37. Bhakat’s struggle continued in the second set, allowing the Americans to extend their lead to 4-0.

The Indian team tried to fight back in the third round, with Bommadevara hitting some good shots. But it wasn’t enough to turn things around. In the last round, Bhakat had trouble again, missing some important shots. This gave the Americans the chance to win the match and take home the bronze medal.

Before the bronze medal match, Bhakat and Bommadevara had done something no Indian archers had ever done before – they made it to the Olympic semifinals. They got there by beating Spain in a close match, where both teams were neck and neck until the end.

In the semi-final, the Indian pair faced tough competition from two-time Olympic finalists Siheye Lim and Wo Jin Kim of Korea. Despite taking an early 2-0 lead, they couldn’t maintain their advantage and lost the match.

The journey to the medal match began with a strong performance in the round of 16, where India overcame Indonesia 5-1 (37-36, 38-38, 38-37). Bhakat and Bommadevara displayed consistency throughout the tournament, regularly scoring 9s and 10s.

While the fourth-place finish marks India’s best-ever performance in Olympic archery, it also highlights the narrow margin between success and disappointment at the highest level of competition. The experience gained from this campaign is expected to benefit Indian archery in future international events.

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