India will kickstart its Paris Olympics journey on Thursday, with archers Deepika Kumari and Tarundeep Rai leading the charge in the ranking rounds at Les Invalides.
For the first time since the London 2012 Olympics, India will field a full team of six archers, competing in all five medal events: men’s team/individual, women’s team/individual, and mixed team categories, as per Olympics.com.
This round is critical for Indian archery’s progress in these Olympics, as the performances of each of the six archers over 72 arrows will determine the seedings for both individual and team events.
In the men’s and women’s team competitions, the top four seeded teams from the ranking rounds will get direct quarterfinal qualifications, while teams seeded between eighth and 12th will compete for quarterfinal spots.
The ranking rounds will also determine the qualifiers for the mixed team competition, with only the top 16 pairs advancing to the next stage. For countries fielding both a men’s and women’s archer, the top scores in each category will be combined to determine the team’s seeding.
This will be Deepika Kumari’s fourth Olympic appearance and her first since becoming a mother. Tarundeep Rai is also making his fourth Olympic appearance, while Pravin Jadhav is competing in his second Olympics after Tokyo 2020. The remaining three archers, Dhiraj Bommadevara, Bhajan Kaur, and Ankita Bhakat, are making their Olympic debuts.
Indian archers are still in pursuit of their first Olympic medal. The archery competition at Paris 2024 will start with the individual ranking round on July 25, a day before the opening ceremony. The following stages will run from July 28 to August 4 at Les Invalides.
Paris 2024 Olympics India Schedule for July 25 (Thursday)
Archery
– Women’s Individual Ranking Round (Deepika Kumari, Bhajan Kaur, Ankita Bhakat) – 1:00 PM (IST)
– Men’s Individual Ranking Round (Tarundeep Rai, Dhiraj Bommadevara, Pravin Jadhav) – 5:45 PM (IST)