India’s Dhiraj Bommadevaram with Ankita Bhakat after losing the bronze medal match to US's Casey Kaufhold and Brady Ellison in the mixed team archery contest in Paris
Credit: PTI Photo
Paris: The archery events for the Paris Olympics are being held in the grand gardens of Hotel des Invalides that is steeped in history. Built during the reign of Louis XIV in 1687, Invalides was first used as a military hospital and a retirement home for war veterans.
Today, this majestic building which was the backdrop for the archers, houses French military history museums and monuments. Just walking beside it itself can be intimidating with barrel guns pointing at your face. Behind the building is the glittering Royal Chapel, known locally as the Dome des Invalides, the tallest church building in the French capital at a height of 107 metres. A national cathedral of the French military, it contains the tombs of their greatest figures, most notably Napoleon Bonaparte.
Behind the target which the archers were taking aim at is the Grand Palais, which sits across the elegant Pont Alexandre III bridge. The venue, teeming with fans and tourists, is about two kilometres from the magnificent Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower too is not far away. The river Seine is just a hop away where fine wine flows like water. One's eyes can’t stop gazing around for architectural and cultural marvels.
Amidst this majestic setting is where archers Dhiraj Bommadevara and Ankita Bhakat hoped to make a name for themselves as they took on Americans Brady Ellison and Casey Kaufhold in the bronze medal bout of the mixed team event on Friday. They had already created history by becoming the first Indian archers to reach the semifinal stage of an Olympic Games but they wanted to crown the achievement with a medal. It was not to be as Ankita allowed the pressure to get the better of herself, her poor starts in the opening two sets leaving India with a mountain to climb thereafter as they lost 2-6 to the composed Americans.
The conditions for the bronze medal bout were slightly trickier as compared to their other matches on the day. Although the venue continued to bake under the sweltering Paris summer sun, wind made its presence felt for the first time in the crunch clash. Apart from making mental adjustments of shooting in a medal round of the quadrennial event, the Indian duo also had to make minor technical changes to counter the breeze that played hide and seek.
The 22-year-old Dhiraj, who has been in rasping form in recent months by playing a crucial role in India bagging the men’s team gold at the Shanghai World Cup in April and individual bronze at the Antalya World Cup in June, held his end of the bargain very well in the final. His confidence, attained by those medals, was sky high as he barely missed his mark, shooting four 10s. He did his job of carrying the team along nicely.
Dhiraj was let down by Ankita who appeared crestfallen after letting slip a great medal opportunity. The 26-year-old, who won the women’s team recurve bronze medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games, shot 7 in the first attempts of Set 1 and Set 2. That cooked India’s goose as they trailed 4-0 after the opening two sets.
Even Akita could not decipher how she misfired in the biggest battle of her life. She was brilliant right throughout the day, matching Dhiraj shot for shot. Rarely did she make it appear that she was the perceived weaker of the two. She forged a fantastic alliance with Dhiraj as the duo kept scaling one hurdle after another.
They fell for the first time against eventual gold medallists Kim Woojin and Lim Sihyeon of South Korea in the semifinal stage where they surprised everyone by winning the opening set. That 2-6 defeat still presented a shot at glory against the US which could have changed their lives for good. Sadly, she couldn’t summon her best as a medal slipped through her fingers. She left downcast along with Dhiraj but the fourth place finish will still feel like victory for Indian archery.