How did Dhiraj Bommadevara qualify for the Paris Olympics 2024? 

Dhiraj Bommadevara secured his berth in the Paris Olympics 2024 during the Asian Continental Qualifier tournament in Bangkok, Thailand. Back in November 2023, he won a silver medal and bagged a quota in the men’s recurve team.

In the final, he lost 5-6 to Lin Zhi-Siang of Chinese Taipei after a shootout but he had already booked a ticket to Paris by then. Dhiraj bagged the top seeding with 677 points, only a point above Tarundeep Rai. He got a first-round bye, after which he defeated Ezizmuhammet Sahedov of Turkmenistan in the second round.

Thereafter, Dhiraj got the better of Li Yue Long of Singapore in the third round to show his dominance in the tournament. In the quarterfinals, Dhiraj ousted Ashrafi Bavili of Iran. The archer put forth his A-game to beat Iran’s Mohammedhosein Golshani Asi 6-0 to seal his spot in the Paris Olympics.

Dhiraj Bommadevara is one of the three male Indian archers in Paris along with Tarundeep and Pravin Jadhav. Dhiraj will also be making his debut in the Olympics. The archery events at the showpiece event will take place until August 4.

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Dhiraj Bommadevara’s performance

Back in 2017, Dhiraj Bommadevara made his debut at the international level after which he won the gold medal in the 2021 World Archer Youth Championships. 2023 was a big year for the archer, who was a part of the Indian men’s team that won the silver medal in the Asian Games.

Earlier this year, Dhiraj won the bronze medal in the archery World Cup in Antalya, Turkey. He beat Mauro Nespol of Italy 7-3 in the playoffs. In the mixed recurve event, he won the bronze medal, along with 18-year-old Bhajan Kaur, after beating Mexico’s Matias Grande and Alejandra Valencia.

India have never won a medal in archery at the Olympics and the onus lies on Dhiraj to end the long wait.

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