Paris Olympics: Bhajan Kaur advances; Ankita Bhakat out

She is the youngest of the lot, but teenager Bhajan Kaur has emerged as the most consistent Indian women recurve archer in this Olympics.

The 18-year-old made the pre-quarterfinals winning back-to-back elimination round matches at the Esplanade des Invalides in Paris on Tuesday.

However, her teammate Ankita Bhakat bowed out in the first round of the elimination stage going down to Poland's Wioleta Myszor 4-6 minutes before Kaur began her individual campaign.

Incidentally Kaur was supposed to face Bhakat in round of 16, but she ran into Bhakat-slayer Myszor whom she blanked out 6-0 (28-23, 29-26, 28-22).

Earlier she overcame Indonesia's Syifa Nurafifah Kamal in the round of 32-clash in a five-set contest 7-3 (27-27, 27-29, 29-27, 27-25, 28-25).

Bhajan, who qualified 22nd in the ranking round and put up a good show in the team event despite India making an exit, took some time to warm up as she lost the second set (27-29) after the first set was tied (27-27). However, once she got into the groove, she hit impressive scores of 29, 27 and 28 in the next three rounds to seal the victory.

However, it was heartbreak once again for Bhakat, who fizzled out despite enjoying a 4-2 initial lead against Myszor. The Kolkata-born archer's campaign is going downhill after an impressive qualification at 11th spot with a score of 666. She was a bundle of nerves in the team event and on Tuesday lost the final two sets rather tamely to bow out 4-6 (26-27, 29-26, 28-27, 27-29, 27-28).

Bommadevara cruises
Late on Tuesday, Olympic debutant Dhiraj Bommadevara had a smooth ride in the men's first elimination round, getting past Czech Republic's lone male archer Adam Li 7-1 (29-29, 29-26, 29-28, 28-26). The Armyman showed great consistency, hitting a score of 29 in three of the four sets to keep his World ranking 109 opposition under pressure. Bommadevara did not hit below nine in any of his 12 arrows with seven 10s in the four set match.

Earlier, after conceding defeat in the men's archery team event on Monday, Bommadevara had said that he needs to work more on his game. The team, comprising Bommadevara, Tarundeep Rai and Pravin Jadhav, bowed out in the quarterfinals after a 2-6 loss.

"I need to work more on my game. I want to thank my teammates for believing in me. I will learn from these situations and try not to repeat my mistakes and get back stronger. The main thing is to focus on myself rather than other situations. The second thing is to make decisions about the wind. I didn't believe in my decisions on Monday," Bommadevara said.


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