World Archery Championships 2023: Dhiraj finishes second in ranking round

Dhiraj, who shot 10s and Xs 42 times, was five points away from Korea’s Kim Woojin, who scored the maximum points 46 times on his way to claim the top rank in the recurve men’s qualification round.

FILE PHOTO: Indian archer Dhiraj Bommadevara. | Photo Credit: KVS Giri/The Hindu

B. Dhiraj was streets ahead of his compatriots as he secured 683 points to place second behind World and Olympic gold medallist Kim Woojin of Korea in the recurve men’s qualification round on the opening day of the World archery championships in Berlin on Tuesday.

Dhiraj, who shot 10s and Xs 42 times, was five points away from the Korean, who scored the maximum points 46 times on his way to claim the top rank.

Tushar Shelke and Mrinal Chauhan managed to take 55th and 83rd spots.

Experienced archer Ankita Bhakat scored 639 points to emerge as the best Indian woman at the 31st position. Bhajan Kaur was 45th, while Simranjeet Kaur was 51st.

The race for the world title is ON.
The defending champion and now top seed will not have it easy.#WorldArcherypic.twitter.com/IpwsnWbvlR

— World Archery (@worldarchery) August 1, 2023

The World championships is doubly important for the recurve archers as it marks the start of the Paris 2024 Olympic qualification period. Top three teams and top three individual archers per gender will win Olympic quota places for their countries.

In compound, V.Jyothi Surekha (701) finished a close second behind Sara Lopez (702) in the women’s section. She was followed by Aditi Swami at sixth place and Parneet Kaur at 26th. Ojas Deotale, at sixth place, was the best Indian male.

THE RESULTS

RECURVE

Individual:Men: B. Dhiraj (2nd, 683), Tushar Shelke (55th, 650), Mrinal Chauhan (83rd, 640)

Women: Ankita Bhakat (31st, 639), Bhajan Kaur (45th, 627), Simranjeet Kaur (51st, 625)

Team: India: Men (9th, 1973), Women (13th, 1891), Mixed (4th, 1322).

COMPOUND

Individual: Men: Ojas Deotale (6th, 702), Prathamesh Jawkar (14th, 699), Abhishek Verma (29th, 693)

Women: V. Jyothi Surekha (2nd, 701), Aditi Swami (6th, 693), Parneet Kaur (26th, 681)

Team: India: Men (3rd, 2094), Women (2nd, 2075), Mixed (1st, 1403).