Paris: The Indian archery pair of Ankita Bhakat and Dhiraj Bommadevara advanced to the mixed team semifinals after beating Spain’s Elia Canales and Pablo Acha Gonzalez in the quarterfinal at Invalides here on Friday. The Indian duo started on a high note and bagged the first set with a score of 38-37. However, the Spanish pair came back strong in the next set to clinch one point after drawing with a score of 38-38.
In the third set, Canales and Gonzalez started with two 10s which was enough to put pressure on Bhakat and Bommadevara as they only scored 9 each in their first shots. The Spaniards finally managed to seal the set with a total of 37 against India’s 36 to level the score 3-3.
In the deciding fourth set, the Indians came back fighting as Bommadevara fired 10s on his both shots while Bhakat contributed 9 and 8 to accumulate 37.
On the other hand, their opponents failed to surpass their total as they could only add 36 and lost the match.
Earlier in the day, the Indian pair beat Indonesia’s Diananda Choirunisa and Arif Pangestu 5-1 in the round of 16 to progress to the quarterfinals.
The Mixed Team’s success came following a disappointing show in the Team Competition. In the Team Competitions, both the men’s and women’s trios crashed out in the quarterfinals after doing well in the ranking round. In the men’s individual, along with Bommadevara, Pravin Jadhav and Tarundeep Rai failed to reach the medal rounds.
The Mixed Team is the only archery team now with a chance of winning a medal for India in the Paris Olympics. If Dhiraj and Ankita manage this, they will be the first archers from India to win a medal in the Olympics after the sport made its debut in the Olympics in 1988 in Seoul.
–IANS
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