Paris Olympics: India archer Dhiraj endures heartbreak after losing to Peters in shoot-off in men's individual event
Jul 30, 2024
Paris [France], July 31 : The series of upsets in archery for India continued to unfold in the Paris Olympics after young archer Dhiraj Bommadevara suffered a heartbreak in the men's individual 1/16.
Canada's Eric Peters and Dhiraj played a thrilling draw that kept the fans on the edge of their seats. It was raining 10s from the bows of both archers which led to a highly captivating contest between the two archers. Dhiraj came close but fell too far at the end which sealed his exit from the event.
The first set began with a 10 from Dhiraj proving to be the difference between the two archers. Dhiraj took the lead but Peters relying on his accuracy fought back to level the match.
The third set began with Peters hitting three 9s while Dhiraj struck two 10s to take away the third set. In the fourth set, both archers struck 10 on each shot to take away a point each.
Dhiraj was one step away from sealing his place in the next round but a nine in his final shot allowed Peters to force the game into shoot-off.
Both archers struck ten but Peters' arrow was closer to the centre which allowed him to move into the next round and end Dhiraj's run in the singles event.
Meanwhile, in the women's event, India's ace archer Bhajan Kaur stormed into the Round of 16 after defeating Poland's veteran Wioleta Myzsor in the women's individual recurve archery.
It was a clean sweep for Bhajan, as she ousted Myzsor with a 6-0 win in the Round of 32. In the opening set, she struck 10, 9, 9 to accumulate 29.
In reply, the Polish archer faltered in her first shot and struck 8. She retaliated with two consecutive nines and could only put 26 in the first set.
In the second set, Bhajan struck back-to-back 10s in her first two shots to take the second set out of Myzsor's grasp and take a 4-0 lead. In the third set, Myzsor struck five in her final shot which sealed her exit from the event.