NEW DELHI, June 24: For the first time in 12 years, India will be sending a full six-member archery contingent to the Olympics, making them eligible to compete in all the five events at the Paris Games.
This was made possible after the Indian men and women secured the team quotas based on the updated world rankings on Monday.
Team qualification guarantees participation in all events in archery at the Olympics.
The last time India fielded a six-member team at Olympics was in London 2012 where they competed in all the four events. The mixed team event was introduced in the last Olympics in Tokyo.
India have never won a medal in archery at the quadrennial extravaganza.
In the men’s section, India and China made the cut, while in the women’s category Indonesia were the second nation to secure the team quota.
The team events will have 12 sides in each section, while five outfits will compete in the mixed competitions.
For the first time, team quotas are offered to the top-two nations after the three-leg Olympic qualifiers.
The first Olympic qualifier was the World Archery Championships in Berlin last year from where South Korea, Turkey and Japan qualified in men’s category; while Germany and Mexico secured their spots in women’s division.
The second leg was a continental qualifier.Kazakhstan and South Korea took the men’s and women’s team quotas respectively from the Asian leg, while Colombia and the United States made the cut from Pan-America.From the European leg, Italy (men) and the Netherlands (women) secured quotas.
The final Olympic qualifier was held in Antalya, Turkey last week.
Mexico, Chinese Taipei, Great Britain in men’s section; China, Malaysia, Great Britain and Chinese Taipei in the women’s section secured quotas from the final qualifier.
INDIA SQUAD
Men: Tarundeep Rai, Dhiraj Bommadevara and Pravin Jadhav.
Women: Deepika Kumari, Bhajan Kaur and Ankita Bhakat.
Coaches: Baek Woongki, Poornima Mahato and Sonam Tshering Bhutia. (PTI)
