Indian Mixed Archery Team Loses 2-6 To USA In Paris Olympics Bronze Match

The history-making Indian mixed team of Ankita Bhakat and Dhiraj Bommadevara came agonisingly close to ending India's 36-year wait for an Olympic medal in archery but fell short to finish fourth at the Games in Paris on Friday. The team had already created history by entering the semifinals of the Summer Games for the first time. But the duo lost 37-38 35-37 38-34 35-37 to the American combine of world no.1 Casey Kaufhold and three-time Olympic-medallist Brady Ellison to join the fourth-finishers' club at the Olympics. It was nonetheless the best ever performance by an Indian team in the quadrennial showpiece.

Ankita felt the pressure the most as she fired two 7s and could manage only a couple of 10s in the course of the four sets.

Trailing 0-4, the Indians did well to make a comeback as Ankita struck a superb 10.

All four Indian arrows were in the yellow zone while Casey looked a bit nervous firing a 7 with her first arrow before a 9 and 10. But the Indians did enough to take the third set.

While the 22-year-old Dhiraj was more consistent shooting as many as four 10s, Ankita, who was exceptional against the Koreans in the semifinals, produced a below par performance, including a couple of 8s, which eventually cost India the contest.

Earlier in the semifinal, Dhiraj and Ankita had gone down 2-6 (lost 38-36 35-38 37-38 38-39) to defending champions South Korea.

They did well to take a set off the mighty Koreans.

It was a poor start by Lim Sihyeon, who slipped to the 8-point red ring and Kim Woo-jin also missed a 10, as India responded strongly with two 10s by Dhiraj while Ankita remained consistent with two 9s to take the opening set advantage against the world no.1 combination.

But the Koreans made a strong comeback with