Archery quota for Paris: Dhiraj wins silver at Continental qualifiers

Bangkok: Dhiraj Bommadevara clinched India’s first Paris Olympics quota in archery when he bagged a silver at the Asian Continental Qualification Tournament here on Saturday.

After his senior colleague Tarundeep Rai’s last-eight exit, Dhiraj was the lone Indian in fray and the 22-year-old did not disappoint, cruising into the final with two straight-set wins.

But Dhiraj failed to win the gold, losing to his Chinese Taipei rival Zih-Siang Lin 5-6 (29-28, 27-29, 28-28, 30-28, 25-26) (9-10) in an intense shoot-off.

Dhiraj first ousted Sadegh Ashrafi Bavili of Iran 6-0 (28-27, 28-25, 28-27) in the quarterfinal, then in the semi-final he knocked out another Iranian Mohammadhossein Golshani 6-0 (30-27, 29-25, 29-27).

India however failed to secure a quota in the women’s individual section after Ankita Bhakat made a quarterfinal exit, losing to Ziyodakhon Abdusattorova of Uzbekistan.

The Tata Academy archer was leading 3-1 after a solid first set but only to slip away and go down 4-6 (29-23, 27-27, 24-25, 27-27, 24-26).