Paris Olympics 2024: Indian archer Dhiraj Bommadevara loses by the smallest of margins; Bhajan Kaur advances, Ankita Bhakat loses

India’s recurve archer Dhiraj Bommadevara was agonisingly eliminated from the men’s individual archery event after losing with the smallest of margins at the ongoing Paris Olympics 2024.

The archer, playing Canada’s Eric Peters in the second round, matched shot to shot, including scoring six ten pointers in as many arrows, but ended up on the losing side in a tense shootout.

In the shootout, after both players were tied on 5-5, Dhiraj scored a 10, the maximum possible score in recurve archery, but Peters responded with a 10 but closer to the centre of the target and thus prevailed with the barest of margins.

The Indian archer, from Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh, started well by beating Adam Li of the Czech Republic in the first round with a 7-1 scoreline.

Dhiraj and Li started with a near-perfect first set (29-29) and then upped the ante to win 29-26, 29-28, 28-26 (7-1) in the end.

Against Peters, Dhiraj started with a win in the first set at 28-27 but then Peters responded with a 29-28 scoreline in the second to draw level.

Dhiraj took the lead in the third set with 29-27 but the fourth set was top-class with both archers hitting the bullseye with all three arrows. Sharing the spoils at 30-30 in the fourth set, the Canadian shot 30 (all 10s) in the fifth but Dhiraj responded well to score two 10-pointers in the first two arrows.

Had Dhiraj scored a 10 in the last arrow, he would have won 6-4 but he could only manage 9 as he lost the set as Peters made it 5-5.

The shootout was one to remember for ages as both archers scored a 10, with Peters’ arrow getting a bit closer to the centre, ensuring his advancement in the competition.

In the women’s individual rounds, Bhajan Kaur advanced to the round-of-16 with two wins but Ankita Bhakat had to bite the dust in the first round.

Bhajan beat Indonesia’s Syifa Kamal 7-3 in the first round and then beat Poland’s Wioleta Myszor, ranked 54 in the world, with a 6-0 scoreline.

However, Ankita lost to Myszor in the Polish archers’ first round 6-4. Had Ankita won, it would have been a match between the two Indians.