Three Indian recurve archers to contend for Paris Olympic qualification in Asian Continental Qualification Tournament

Three Indian recurve archers remain in contention for a Paris Olympics spot on the opening day of the Asian Continental Qualifier Tournament (ACQT), held in Bangkok on Friday, November 10.

Top-ranked archer Dhiraj Bommadevara topped the qualification round in men's event with 677 points. Veteran Tarundeep Rai was just one point shy of his young Indian compatriot's tally to finish second with 676, while Pravin Jadhav stood fourth, accumulating 671 points.

Moving to the elimination round, all three Indian men's archers got a bye in the first round. Dhiraj blanked Turkmenistan's Ezizmuhammet Sahedov and Singapore's Li Yue Long 6-0 to confirm his spot in the quarterfinals.

Rai got the better of Hong Kong's Wan Chun Kit and later defeated Bangladesh's Olympian Ruman Shana 6-2 to join Dhiraj in the last eight. However, Pravin lost to Iranian Mohammadhossein Golshani Asl 3-7 to bow out of the event.

In the women's recurve event, 25-year-old Ankita Bhakat was the lone Indian to advance to the quarterfinals. She came second in the qualification round with 646 points. Although she had an easy outing against Bhutan's Sonam Dema (6-0), a fierce competitor in Pia Elizabeth Angela Bidaure waited in the pre-quarters. The World No. 95 edged Pia 6-5 (8-1) in the shootoff for a berth in the last 8.

Meanwhile, Bhajan Kaur and Tisha Punia lost to Sataporn Artsalee of Thailand (2-6) and Ziyodakhon Abdusattorova of Uzbekistan (4-6), respectively. Three of the total six recurve archers remain in the hunt for a first Paris Olympic qualification from the sporting discipline. Dhiraj, Tarundeep, and Ankita will compete on Saturday in their respective quarterfinal events.

What are recurve qualification rules in ACQT?

The top two athletes in the men's and women's events at the Asian Continental Qualifier Tournament (ACQT) will book their tickets for the Paris Olympics. The finalists from both events make the cut for the quadrennial event next year.

However, only one spot is permitted in each gender for each country (NOC), which means if two players from the same country reach the finals in either category then the bronze medallist will be awarded the qualification.

The recently concluded 2023 Asian Archery Championships, which were also staged in Bangkok, awarded Kazakhstan's men's team and Korean women's team Olympic spots by virtue of being crowned continental champions. The individual berths for both men and women were grabbed by Indonesia while a lone single women's spot went to Chinese Taipei.

The ACQT is a two-day recurve-only event, offering additional individual spots - four NOCs - two each for men and women.