Paris Olympics: India archers Ankita, Dhiraj set to play for medal after storming into recurve mixed team semi-finals
Aug 02, 2024
Paris [France], August 2 : India archers Ankita Bhakat and Dhiraj Bommadevara are set to play for a medal after dominating Spain's Elia Canales and Pablo Acha in the quarter-finals of the archery recurve mixed team event.
The Indian duo wrapped the quarter-finals in four sets with a 5-3 win over the Spanish archers.
In the opening set, the Indian duo managed to lead in the quarter-finals after Dhiraj struck back-to-back ten in his first two shots while Ankita hit nine twice to accumulate 38 points. In reply, the Spanish duo struck nine thrice and a single ten to bag 37 points.
All archers struck a ten and a nine to take away 38 points and end the second set on level terms.
Spain tied the scoreline at 3-3 after Pablo and Elia sent an arrow each to the 10-point mark. For India, only Dhiraj was able to hit a ten in his second shot, which marked India's downfall in the third set. Spain won the third set by a single point after picking up 37 points, and in reply, India managed to put in 36 points.
In the fourth set, Ankita fluffed her second shot and hit an eight. Dhiraj compensated by hitting back-to-back ten to put 37 points on the board.
In reply, Pablo and Elia didn't get off to an ideal start in their first shots. Pablo struck nine while Elia could only manage an eight. They could have taken away a point by hitting the ten-point region twice, but only Elia could pull off the feat out of the two Spanish archers.
The Spanish archers failed to keep the quarter-finals clash alive, which allowed the Indian duo to move into the semi-finals to play for a medal match.
Earlier in the day, Ankita-Dhiraj defeated the Indonesian archers duo Diananda Choirunisa and Arif Pangestu 5-1 in the Round of 16 match at the Les Invalides.
The Indian archers took the first and third sets with scores of 37-36 and 38-37, respectively. Meanwhile, the second set was tied at 38-38. The fifth set hit five 10s during their pre-quarterfinal victory.
