Deepika, Ankita secure Olympics quota, medals for India at Asian meet

Bangkok, November 28

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Deepika Kumari struck gold while Ankita Bhakat bagged the silver after securing India an Olympics quota place at the Continental Qualification Tournament held on the sidelines of the 21st Asian Championships. Three individual places were up for grabs from the qualifications and the Indian archers, who are competing without a flag due to the national federation’s suspension, made a big statement with top seed Deepika and sixth seed Ankita’s stellar show.

Ranked No. 1 among the women, Deepika put up a flawless show to defeat Nur Afisa Abdul Halil of Malaysia 7-2, Zahra Nemati (Iran) 6-4 and local girl Narisara Khunhiranchaiyo 6-2 to make the semifinals, thereby securing an Olympics quota. “We were a little bit nervous earlier in the day. There was too much wind. I just concentrated on my breathing and told myself ‘just do it’. I’m feeling good right now,” Deepika said.

Before the final round against the local challenger Narisara, Deepika promised her fiance and teammate Atanu Das that she would shoot a 28. However, Deepika did one better by hitting two perfect 10s and one nine to seal the issue. “I promised (mixed team partner and fiance) Atanu that I will shoot 28. He told me go and shoot. He understands my mind too and it turned out nicely,” she said.

Later in the day, Deepika stormed into the final with a one-sided win 6-2 over Nguyet Do Thi Anh in the semis. Ankita, on the other hand, defeated Lam Shuk Ching Ada of Hong Kong 7-1, Nguyen Thi Phuong of Vietnam 6-0 and Anastassiya Bannova (Kazakhstan) 6-4 and Karma of Bhutan 6-2 to make it an all-Indian final.

India now have a team qualification in the men’s section and an individual quota in the women’s event of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. It is India’s second Olympics quota place in archery after the men’s recurve team of Tarundeep Rai, Atanu Das and Pravin Jadhav had secured the first in the World Championships earlier this year. The Berlin stage of the 2020 World Cup is the last qualifying event for Tokyo 2020. The Indian archers bagged one gold, two silver and four bronze in the Asian Archery Championships that concluded on Wednesday. PTI