India's Dhiraj Bommadevara and Ankita Bhakat fell short against the USA in the Recurve Mixed Team Archery bronze medal match, missing out on India's fourth bronze medal at the Paris Olympics 2024. The Indian pair had etched history, securing the team's first-ever semifinal apperance in this event at the Olympic Games but succumbed to South Korea in the semifinal before losing to USA in the bronze medal match.
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It was a sprited effort, nonetheless, by the Indian team. They even managed to take the mighty Koreans by surprise when they took early lead in the semifinal. Bommadevara hit 10s in both his shots as India won the first set 38-36. However, Si-hyeon and Woojin, came back from behind to win the second set 38-35 and never gave an inch to their opponents thereafter, winning the next two sets 38-37, 39-38.
By contrast, India had a poor start in the USA match. They lost the opening set and were always playing catch up in the match. They even lost the second set before winning a must-win third set to remain alive in the match. The American pair, however, proved too good for the Indian duo as they outclassed them 37-36 in the fourth set to win the match 6 set points to 2.
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India's Wait For An Elusive Olympic Medal In Archery Continues
The result means despite having World Cup winners and World Championship medal winners in their contingent, the country's wait for an elusive Olympic medal continues. Dhiraj Bommadevara argubaly produced the best ever performance by an Indian archer at the Summer Games and brought India on the verge of a medal in this mixed team event too but would be returning empty handed.