On Sunday, June 16, Indian women recurve archer, Bhajan Kaur clinched a gold medal at the final Olympic Qualifier tournament in Antalya, Turkey. Moreover, with her gold medal finish, she confirmed India’s first women’s individual recurve archery quota. The 18-year-old prodigy became only the second Indian archer to secure a spot at the Paris Games, following Dhiraj Bommadevara in men’s event.
The 18-year-old Kaur’s victory came after a decisive 6-2 victory against Iran’s Mobina Fallah in the gold medal match. She started with two nines, clinching the first set by 28-26 margin. Her Iranian opponent came strong in the second set with both archers shooting 29 apiece. However, Kaur took control of the third set, taking it 29-26. Although the fourth set saw the archers tied at 29-29, Kaur’s early dominance ensured her a 6-2 win.
Earlier in the tournament, Bhajan Kaur defeated Moldova’s Alexandra Mirca 6-2 in the semifinals. Apart from Kaur, Ankita Bhakat outplayed Gabrielle Monica Bidaure of Philippines 6-0 (26-23, 28-22, 28-23) to enter the quarterfinals on Sunday, June 16 and confirm 2024 Paris Games quota.
However, Deepika Kumari, one of the top archers from India, suffered a shocking 4-6 (26-28, 25-27, 23-26, 24-25, 27-29) defeat at the hands of Azerbaijan’s Yaylagul Ramazanova in the third round after receiving a bye in the first couple of rounds.