Indian archers Dhiraj and Ankita make a bit of history despite finishing fourth

Indian archers make history at Paris 2024 Olympics, narrowly missing bronze in mixed team event.

It was that proverbial moment of ‘so near yet so far.’

At the magnificent setting of the 17th century Invalides arena, with the Eiffel Tower, the Grand Palais and the Army Museum standing as witness, Indian archers made a bit of history by making it to the mixed team bronze medal match, but falling short of cornering Olympic glory in Paris 2024.

Like several much-talked about fourth-place finish moments, which fills one in pride without a medal and includes legends such as Milkha Singh, P.T. Usha and Dipa Karmakar, the one here involving Ankita Bhakat and B. Dhiraj, hailing from Kolkata and Vijayawada respectively, has the power to give Indian archery a big morale-boosting push.

The Indian duo overcame a bit of distraction due to the absence of Korean coach Baek Woong Ki to shoot consistently well and won two rounds before losing to powerhouse Korea and then a more experienced USA side in the bronze medal duel.

Ankita and Dhiraj, who emerged as the best archers of the country in respective ranking rounds but performed the worst in team events, shot with composure to help the fifth-ranked India beat the 12th ranked Indonesian duo of Diananda Choirunisa and Arif Pangetsu 5-1 (37-36, 38-38, 38-37).

In the quarterfinals, Ankita-Dhiraj saw off 13th-placed Spain, comprising World Cup stage team gold medallists Elia Canales and Pablo Acha, 5-3 (38-37, 38-38, 36-37, 37-36) following a keen competition.

After taking the first set and sharing honours in the second, India dropped its intensity a shade to see the scores level at 3-3 before regaining the rhythm to get the better of the Spaniards.