Indian Olympic Archery team selected after Trial 3 in Pune

Khel Today Reporter

New Delhi: The final selection trial (Trial 3) for the Indian Archery team for the Tokyo Olympics concluded today at the Army Sports Institute in Pune. The following six players, three in men’s recurve Pravin Jadhav, Atanu Das and Tarundeep Rai and three in women’s recurve Deepika Kumari, Ankita Bhakat and Komolika Bari have made it to the final team. The selection for the Olympic team on a points system took into consideration the scores of Trial 2 that took place in November 2020, the scores of this trial and whether the archer had won an Olympic quota

The men’s recurve team comprising of the above three archers had already won a quota at the 2019 Archery World Championships that were held in the Netherlands after winning a silver medal. By winning this quota, they were eligible for single athlete quotas in the men’s individual recurve event as well.

Pravin Jadhav topped the trial held today and was also in overall first place, with this he will be playing his first ever Olympics. Atanu Das came second while Tarundeep Rai finished overall third across all three criteria. Tarundeep is a two-time former Olympian having represented India in 2004 and 2012 and will be playing his third Olympics in Tokyo.

Atanu Das who will be playing in his second Olympics after 2016, said, “I am very happy with the way the trial went and I am now confirmed for the Olympics. Have gone through a long process between the 2016 Olympics to now and have realised that the mental aspect of the game is very important. I am looking forward to perform at my best in both the individual and team events in Tokyo.”

Deepika Kumari who has already won an Olympic quota at the 2019 Asian Archery Championships, topped today’s trial. This will be Deepika’s third Olympics after 2012 and 2016. Ankita Bhakat came second while Komolika Bari came overall third.

The women’s recurve team is yet to win an Olympic quota and they will get an opportunity at the Final Team Qualification event scheduled to take place in Paris from June 18-21. The trio of Deepika Kumari, Ankita Bhakat and Komolika Bari will represent India at that event and if they earn the quota will go on to represent India at the Olympics following the results of today’s trial.