Paris Olympics 2024: India off to stirring start as archers finish in top-four of team events

As far as starts to an Olympic campaign go, India - with both the men’s and women’s archery teams finishing in the top four of the qualification events for the first time ever - couldn’t have hoped for a better one.

India’s archers Bhajan Kaur, Ankita Bhakat and Deepika Kumari during the women’s individual ranking round at the Summer Olympics 2024. | Photo Credit: PTI

A huge round of applause rang out at the conclusion of the women’s qualification round at the archery range constructed in front of Paris’ iconic 17th century Invalides complex, when it became clear the first world record had fallen at the 2024 Olympics. 

South Korea’s Lim Sihyeon waved and smiled to the dozens of photographers as an announcement was made that she had just shattered the women’s world record with a mammoth score of 694 out of a possible 720.

Although it didn’t draw nearly as much attention, there were a few quiet smiles from three Indian archers - the first athletes from the country in action at the Paris Games - in the other end of the archery line up as well. Although their individual scores weren’t nearly as impressive as Sihyeon’s – Ankita Bhakat finished 11th in the 64-strong field with a total of 666, while Bhajan Kaur and Deepika Kumari finished 22nd and 23rd with scores of 659 and 658, respectively – they had done impressively as a team.

Their combined team total stood at 1983 – the best total ever shot by an Indian women’s team at any competition. More significantly, the total put the team in fourth place at the end of qualification - again their best ever finish in terms of team ranking at the Olympics - and earned them a direct berth into the quarterfinals - just two team wins away from a historic first medal.

There was more good news later in the day. The Indian men’s team, powered by a stirring second-half comeback from Dhiraj Bommadevara, finished in third place with an Olympic best total of 2013 points. Bommadevara himself finished in fourth place at the conclusion of the individual competition with a score of 681 while Tarundeep Rai, shooting the last qualification round of his career, shot a solid 674. While Pravin Jadhav had an off day with a score of 658, India still finished 16 points clear of fourth-placed China. More significantly, by finishing in third place, the team isn’t drawn to face South Korea – the juggernaut of men’s team archery – until the final of the competition.

As far as starts to an Olympic campaign go, India - with both the men’s and women’s archery teams finishing in the top four of the qualification events for the first time ever - couldn’t have hoped for a better one. “Bohot badhiya,” India’s coach Sonam Bhutia told the three women as they made their way back to the Indian tent. 

He looked even happier after the men’s performance. While the women shot in near perfect conditions in bright sunshine and near-zero breeze, the men battled through crosswinds gusting across the field in all directions.

“We are very satisfied because we have focused more on our shooting process and overcome a very difficult wind condition,” Bhutia said.

India’s women archers set the pace at the start of the day. “It wasn’t as if one person shot very well and the others shot poorly. Everyone is shooting at a good level,” said team coach Purnima Mahato.

If there was one quibble, it came right at the end of the competition when Bhakat pulled her last three neatly in the ring marking ‘nine’ to the right of the bulls eye. Those three lost points saw India finish below Mexico, which took third place and will thus likely avoid women’s archery heavyweight South Korea in the semifinals.

Mahato was able to smile gamely about it at the conclusion of the qualification round. “It was a perfect grouping but it all came in the nine ring,” she said.

She and the rest of the Indian team was a lot more tense at the halfway stage of the competition. The team was in sixth place then, behind Korea, China, Mexico, France and Indonesia.

More worryingly, Deepika – competing at her fourth Olympics – couldn’t have started worse, entering the red and then the blue rings with a score of 8 and then a 6 in her first series of six arrows.

“It was a bad shot but I was running out of time to take the shot and right at that moment there was a gust of wind,” Deepika explained.

Archers are given a 15-minute break at the halfway stage - after shooting 36 arrows - in qualifying and Deepika, languishing in 37th place, clearly needed it. As experienced as she might be, Deepika admits being nervous at that point. “Seniors can’t get nervous or what?” she conceded at the end of the competition.

Neither coach Mahato nor Bhutia told the Indian team where they stood at that point. Nor were they going to listen at that point. Instead, the three retreated into their own worlds.

Bhakat started stretching using a theraband. Bhajan, the 18-year-old rookie of the team, started singing to herself. Deepika, meanwhile, put on her pair of earphones and started listening to K-pop music.

“It helps me stay calm and collect my thoughts,” she says.

Deepika was indeed able to gather herself in the second half of the competition. Despite another stumble – she went into the black rings this time – shooting a 5 in the tail end of her third series after the break, Deepika bounced back with a 10 in the very next series.

With Ankita and Bhajan shooting steadily on their Olympic debuts alongside her, it was more than enough to see India through to a historic finish.

If Deepika managed to hold herself steady after a poor start, Dhiraj turned things completely on its head. Individually ranked 24th with a modest score of 335/360 after 36 arrows, he was troubled by winds blowing through the range, shooting five shots into the red ‘8’ point ring in the first half of his competition. 

“It was tricky. If you adjusted for the wind in one shot, for the next you’d find the wind blowing in an entirely different direction. If you adjusted for that, you’d find the wind against your body blowing in a different direction to the one near the target. I was getting very confused and a little scared as well,” he admits.

It was at that moment that Tarundeep Rai, playing his fourth Olympics, came up to him and reminded him of just who they were. They were not just archers, he reminded him, but also soldiers in the Indian army – Rai being a subedar while Bommadevara is a havaldar.

“He told me, ‘Brother, are you scared? Don’t worry.  Fauji hain, fauji jaise lad ke rahenge.’ (We are soldiers and we will fight like soldiers).”

Bommadevara says he took a step back and adjusted. In the second half of the competition, he shot 346/360 – better than anyone else in the field.

Their task done for the day, both sets of Indian archers admit they are standing at the cusp of history. They know they are in the quarterfinals - just two wins away from an assured medal. Both players and coaches know there’s no reason to be satisfied just yet.

“We have never before been top-four at the Olympics. I am satisfied with our performance but I think we can do even better,” Bhakat said.