It was a disappointing day for Indian archers at the Berlin World Championships. They lost in the quarterfinals in the men’s and women’s recurve events on Wednesday, and thus failed to lock Paris Olympics team quota places from the tournament.
However, the archers will get another opportunity in the individual section that starts on Thursday.
Following that, the Asian Games will offer another chance.
The World Championship is the first passport to Paris, as long as contestants finish in the top-three in team and individual events.
On Wednesday, the men's recurve team of Dhiraj Bommadevara, Rajat Chauhan and Tushar Shelke lost to traditional rivals Korea 1-5 (49-55, 57-57, 53-55).
In the women's recurve, Bhajan Kaur, Ankita Bhakat and Simranjeet Kaur came up short against the Netherlands 2-6 (49-48, 52-53, 48-50, 54-57).
In the individual section, India’s chief hope will be Bommadevara. The Army man is seeded second from the qualification round of the men's individual recurve category.
India also tasted defeat in the recurve mixed team event, even though they had a favourable draw thanks to a fourth-place finish in the qualification.
The pair of Bommadevara and Ankita, who got a bye into the last-16, lost to lower-placed Italy 4-5 (35-37, 36-35, 39-37, 34-36) (16-17) in the shoot-off.
At the Hangzhou Asian Games, mixed team champions and two individuals per gender can secure their spot at the Olympics.
The last two qualifying tournaments are the Asian Championship in Bangkok in November and the Antalya World Cup in June next year.
India could also stand a chance to qualify basis their top-8 world ranking. This call will be taken as per the list updated on June 24, 2024.
