Antalya – Indian archer Bhajan Kaur has secured a quota for the Paris Olympics by winning the gold medal in the women's individual recurve event at the World Quota Tournament in Antalya on Sunday.
Kaur triumphed over top-seeded Mobina Fallah of Iran with a decisive 6-2 victory in the final match. The third-seeded Kaur had an impressive run, starting her campaign with byes in the first two rounds. She then defeated Mongolia's Urntungalag Bishindi 6-1 in the third round, followed by a 7-3 victory over Slovenia's Urska Cavic in the fourth round.
In the quarter-finals, Kaur outperformed Poland's Violeta Maszor with a 6-0 win and continued her dominance by defeating Moldova's tenth-seeded Alexandra Mirka 6-2 in the semi-finals. Her victory in the final secured her a place at the Paris Olympics.
Fellow Indian archer Ankita Bhakat also had a commendable performance, reaching the quarter-finals. Ninth-seeded Bhakat received a bye in the first round and won her second and third-round matches 6-4 and 7-3 against Israel's Shelly Hilton and Mikaela Moshe, respectively. However, she was defeated 6-4 by Iran's Mobina Fallah in the quarter-finals.
Meanwhile, former world No. 1 Deepika Kumari was eliminated in the third round. After receiving byes in the first two rounds, she lost 6-4 to Azerbaijan's 31st seed Yaylagul Ramazanova in the second round.
India's individual quotas could be upgraded to team quotas if the men's and women's teams make the cut through their world rankings on June 24. Earlier in the tournament, both the Indian men's and women's recurve archery teams failed to secure direct team quotas. The men's team, comprising Tarundeep Rai, Dheeraj Bommadevara, and Pravin Jadhav, lost 5-4 to Mexico in the quarter-finals. The women's team, consisting of Ankita Bhakat, Bhajan Kaur, and Deepika Kumari, was defeated 5-3 by Ukraine in the Round of 16.
