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Indian archer Dhiraj Bommadevara earned the country's first Paris Olympics 2024 quota in the sport at the Asian Continental Qualifier Tournament 2023 being held in Bangkok, Thailand.
On Saturday, Dhiraj secured a quota in the men's recurve event and also won a silver medal. He lost to Chinese Taipei's Lin Zih-Siang 5-6 in a shoot-off in the gold medal. An entry in the final was enough for Dhiraj to secure his Paris 2024 quota. The National Olympic Committees (NOCs) take decisions regarding the participation of their athletes at the Olympics and select the delegation since they have the exclusive authority to representation of their countries at the sporting extravaganza. In a qualifying round, Dhiraj topped the standings with 677 points, which was one more than compatriot Tarundeep Rai - to secure the top seeding. Dhiraj received a first-round bye and secured wins over Turkmenistan's Ezizmuhammet Sahedov and Singapore's Li Yue Long 6-0 in the second and third rounds respectively and beat Iran's Sadegh Ashrafi Bavili in the quarterfinals by the same margin. Another win over Iran's Mohammadhossein Golshani Asl took Dhiraj to finals, where Dhiraj lost. The finalists in men's and women's competitions at the event got Olympic quotas. Olympian Tarundeep Rai lost against Zih-Siang, the eventual gold medallist in the men's recurve event, 6-0, falling two wins short of a quota. In the second round, Mohammadhossein Golshani Asl stopped Pravin Jadhav's challenge. Three Indian competitors were in the women's event: Ankita Bhakat, Bhajan Kaur, and Tisha Punia. After finishing second in qualification, Ankita Bhakat advanced to the quarterfinals but was defeated by Uzbekistan's Ziyodakhon Abdusattorova, who went on to win the silver medal and eliminate Tisha Punia in the third round. Bhajan Kaur was given a bye in the first round but lost to Thailand's Sataporn Artsalee in the second round. (ANI)
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