The archery competition at the Paris Olympics begins on July 25 and will continue till August 4. India will start in all five categories – men’s individual recurve, women’s individual recurve, men’s and women’s team and mixed team. Six Indian archers – Dhiraj Bommadevara, Pravin Jadhav, Tarundeep Rai, Deepika Kumari, Bhajan Kaur and Ankita Bhakat -- have won quota places for Paris 2024.
After a training and acclimatization stint at Compiegne in France, the archers were among the first to enter the Paris Olympics Games Village. Sanjeeva Singh, who participated in the individual and team events at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, feels India can win ‘at least three medals’ given all the preparation the squad has undergone leading up to the Games. Like India’s Korean coach Baek Woong Ki, Singh will not be present in Paris.
The sports ministry has spent Rs 39.18 crores on archery in the Paris Olympics cycle (2021-2024). A total of 41 national camps and 24 foreign exposure trips were supported by the Indian government through its Target Olympics Podium Scheme (TOPS).
“Compared to Tokyo, the preparation has been better planned with a lot of stress on scientific training, mental conditioning and more importantly, tweaking the nature of domestic tournaments in line with the Olympic format,” Singh said. “If we go by current form and the way the archers are performing, we can realistically look at three medals – men’s individual, men’s team and mixed team. Out .