Paris Olympics | Indian Women Archers Dish Out Lackluster Performance In Ranking Round; Korean Archer Inks World Record

Indian women archers put up a lacklustre show in the individual ranking round of the Paris Olympics except for Ankita Bhakat who registered a score of 666 and finished in 11th place. Bhajan Kaur and Deepika Kumari concluded the ranking rounds in the 22nd and 23rd positions respectively. Korean archer Lim Sihyeon shattered a five-year-old world record with a score of 694.

Paris (France):The individual ranking round in women’s archery concluded on Thursday and the Indian archers except for Ankita Bhakat put on a disappointing show by finishing outside the top 10. Ankita Bhakat concluded the round at 11th place with a score of 666 which is her season best also.

Korean archers were on song and Lim Sihyeon shattered a world record set in 2019 with a score of 694. The previous record was inked by her compatriot Kang Chaeyoung who scored 692 points in 2019. Bhajan Kaur scored 659 points and was placed at the 22nd position by the end of the proceedings while veteran archer Deepika Kumari concluded the ranking round one place below her with a score of 658.

There was a slight delay in the proceedings but when it started the whole show was dominated by Lim Sihyeon of Korea as she hit 4 bullseye in a row in the first round and then followed it up with three bullseye to take a solid lead.

For India, Ankita Bhakat started with a bullseye and a 10. She also hit 2 9's and 2 8's in the first round. Deepika started with a 10 but the finish was poor for her as she hit a 6 with the last arrow. Bhajan had a decent start and was placed in the middle of the pack at the end of the first round.

Ankita made a big leap in the second round climbing to 12th place and then rising up to a seventh position with three bullseyes and five 10's during her next 12 arrows. Deepika continued to struggle and it took her third round to hit the first bullseye.

Bhakat continued giving strong performances in between and her place was constantly fluctuating. A dismal start hampered Deepika's performance and she finished the ranking round at the 23rd position while Bhajan's failure to up the game kept her 22nd position.

Bhakat will be up against Myszor Wioleta of Polland in the Round of 32 while Bhajan will play against Kamal Syifa Nurafifah of Poland. Deepika will face an Estonian challenge in the form of Parnat Reena.

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