Paris: India started its Paris Olympics campaign on a bright note a day ahead of the opening ceremony with the women's archery team securing a fourth-place finish in the ranking round to seal a spot in the quarterfinal stage at Les Invalides here on Thursday.
In the quarterfinals, India will face the winner of the last-16 stage match between hosts France and the Netherlands.
In the individual round, Ankita Bhakat bagged the 11th spot with a season-best score of 666 after 72 shots, including 30 10s and 9 Xs. She picked 54 points in the final end. Bhajan Kaur scored 659 (25 10s and 6 Xs) to finish 22nd in the standings. Deepika Kumari, who is competing in her fourth Olympics, settled for 23rd place in the final standings with 658 points (28 10s and 6 Xs).
Meanwhile, South Korean archer Lim Si-Hyeon broke the World Record with a stunning 694, surpassing Kang Chae-Young's 692, which she set in 2019 at ’s-Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands. Si-Hyeon also broke the Olympic record of 680, set by her countrywoman, An San in Tokyo 2020.
Performances over 72 arrows on the day for each of the six archers determined the seedings for the individual as well as the team events. For the men’s and women’s team competitions, the top four seeded teams from the ranking round advance directly to the quarterfinals.
The teams seeded between eighth to 12th will face each other for the remaining four quarterfinal spots. The ranking round will also determine qualification for the mixed team event with only the top 16 pairs making the cut.
