Indian Archers are in action today even before the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics that is set to take place on July 26 at 11:30 PM IST. The qualification ranking round for individuals and teams among men and women is in progress today. The Indian women’s team did well to finish in fourth place, behind Korea, China and Mexico. They have now qualified directly for the tournament’s quarterfinal and are likely to face a tough battle against Korea if they go through.

Deepika Kumari, featuring in her fourth Olympics, Bhajan Kaur and Ankita Bhakat appeared in the qualification round at the individual level and their performances were accumulated for the team rankings as well. Ankita finished in the 11th spot with a score of 666 and she was the best among three in the team. Veteran Deepika ended at 23rd place with 658 points while Bhajan Kaur finished just above her at 22nd with a score of 659.

LIM Sihyeon of South Korea created a world record in the individual ranking round ending with a score of 694 at the end of 12 rounds. Even in the team rankings, South Korea finished at the top with an Olympic record score of 2046 ahead of China who finished with 1966 points. Mexico finished just three points ahead of India in the team standings with 1986 points overall.

Indian archers will next be in action on July 30 now when the knockout rounds in the team event and the main matches of the individuals will be played. Men’s individual and team ranking round are scheduled to commence at 5:45 PM today.

India’s women archers’ performance in the qualification round:

Individual

Deepika Kumari – 658 (23rd spot)

Bhajan Kaur – 659 (22nd spot)

Ankita Bhakat – 666 (11th spot)

Team

India – 1986 (4th spot)