India’s journey in the Paris Olympics begins on Thursday with archers Deepika Kumari and Tarundeep Rai leading the team in the ranking rounds at Les Invalides.
For the first time since the 2012 London Olympics, India will field a full team of six archers, competing in all five medal events: men’s team, women’s team, mixed team, and individual categories for both men and women. According to Olympics.com, this round is crucial as performances over 72 arrows for each archer will determine seedings for the individual and team events.
In the men’s and women’s team competitions, the top four seeded teams from the ranking rounds will directly qualify for the quarterfinals, while teams seeded eighth to twelfth will compete for the remaining quarterfinal spots. The ranking will also decide the participants in the mixed team competition, with only the top 16 pairs advancing to the next stage. Each country’s top scores in the men’s and women’s categories will be combined to determine the team’s seeding.
This Olympics marks Deepika Kumari’s fourth appearance and her first since becoming a mother. Tarundeep Rai is also competing in his fourth Olympics, while teammate Pravin Jadhav is making his second appearance after Tokyo 2020. The remaining three archers, Dhiraj Bommadevara, Bhajan Kaur, and Ankita Bhakat, are debuting at the Olympics.
Indian archers have yet to win an Olympic medal. The archery competition at Paris 2024 starts with the individual ranking round on July 25, a day before the Opening Ceremony. The subsequent stages will take place from July 28 to August 4 at Les Invalides.
Paris 2024 Olympics India Schedule Today: July 25, Thursday
Archery (All in Indian Standard Time – IST)
