Paris Olympics 2024: Led by Dhiraj, Tarundeep India's men's archery team books quarterfinal berth

It was a great day for Indian archers on Thursday (July 25) after the men’s team booked their place in the quarterfinal of the team’s event. Led by Dhiraj Bommadevara and Tarundeep Rai India’s men’s team finished fourth and now stand within two wins of clinching a medal in the Paris Olympics. The day had earlier seen, India’s women’s archery team book their place in the quarterfinal having also finished fourth in their team’s ranking event.

India’s men’s team reaches QF

Needing to give their best in the ranking round, Dhiraj and Tarundeep were at their fluent best for the Indian contingent as they produced their best on the Olympics eve. Dhiraj had a slow start with 57 points from his first round of 6 shots and struggled with early pressure. However, he would then improvise to make help India back on the track in the race for the qualification. He amassed 56 points from the fourth round including 10 pointers.

He would then end with a hat-trick of bullsseyes in the fifth round followed by two in the sixth round which saw him back in contention for a qualifying berth.

On the flip side for Tarundeep, having bagged a total of 6 bullseyes in the first half, he could manage only two bullseyes in his second-half of shots. Coincidentally, Tarundeep went on to finish in 14th with 337 points, which was the exact score at the end of his first-half throws.

Earlier, India’s women’s Archery team secured qualification to the quarterfinal of the team event as the trio of Ankita Bhakat, Bhajan Kaur and Deepika Kumari finished fourth in the ranking round of the Paris Olympics on Thursday (July 25). With a score of 1983 from the trio, they finished fourth in the qualification round which will now see them just two steps away from clinching a medal at the Paris Olympics.