Paris Olympics: Ankita-Dhiraj moves to quarterfinals in archery recurve mixed team event

Indian archers Ankita Bhakat and Dhiraj Bommadevara advanced to the quarterfinal in the archery recurve mixed team event, after beating Indonesia's Diananda Choirunisa and Arif Pangestu at the ongoing Paris Olympics on Friday. Ankita-Dhiraj defeated the Indonesian 5-1 in the Round of 16 match at the Les Invalides.

The Indian archers took the first and third sets with scores of 37-36 and 38-37, respectively. Meanwhile, the second set was tied at 38-38. The fifth set hit five 10s during their pre-quarterfinal victory. Ankita-Dhiraj will take on Spain or the People's Republic of China in the quarter-final of the archery recurve mixed team event on Friday.

Earlier in the archery men's individual 1/16, the series of upsets in archery for India continued to unfold in the Paris Olympics after young archer Dhiraj Bommadevara suffered a heartbreak.

Canada's Eric Peters and Dhiraj played a thrilling draw that kept the fans on the edge of their seats. It was raining 10s from the bows of both archers which led to a highly captivating contest between the two archers. Dhiraj came close but fell too far at the end which sealed his exit from the event.

The first set began with a 10 from Dhiraj proving to be the difference between the two archers. Dhiraj took the lead but Peters relying on his accuracy fought back to level the match. The third set began with Peters hitting three 9s while Dhiraj struck two 10s to take away the third set. In the fourth set, both archers struck 10 on each shot to take away a point each.

Dhiraj was one step away from sealing his place in the next round but a nine in his final shot allowed Peters to force the game into shoot-off. Both archers struck ten but Peters' arrow was closer to the centre which allowed him to move into the next round and end Dhiraj's run in the singles event.