Archery World Cup Stage III: Indian women’s recurve team gets final chance to book Tokyo Olympics berth

The Indian women’s recurve trio of Deepika Kumari, Ankita Bhakat and Komalika Bari will aim to use the Archery World Cup Stage III to give the final shot at qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics after being granted visas for Paris. The Archery World Cup Stage III is the final qualification event before the Tokyo Olympics.

Doubts surfaced about the archers’ participation at the Archery World Cup Stage III after several European countries including France had put a travel ban on India due to COVID-19. But the concerned authorities connected well in time to ensure that the women trio got the final shot at qualification.

So far, four Indian archers have qualified for the Tokyo Olympics. The men’s team of Atanu Das, Tarundeep Rai and Pravin Jadav have secured their Tokyo Olympic berths owing to their second-place finish at the 2019 World Archery Championship in the Netherlands. They will also compete individually.

#TOPSAthlete @ImDeepikaK won her 3rd World Cup gold medal and 12th overall in women’s individual recurve at the Archery World Cup in Guatemala. @ArcherAtanu secured the gold medal in men’s individual recurve to win his 1st ever WC medal in the individual category.#Archery pic.twitter.com/hmAFGPqCsw

— SAIMedia (@Media_SAI) April 26, 2021

Deepika Kumari is the lone Indian female archer to have booked her Tokyo Olympics ticket after she won gold to secure an individual quota at the 2019 Asian continental qualifier in Bangkok. The Indian women’s trio will face stiff competition in the event and have their task cut out in a bid to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.

The top three teams in the Archery World Cup Stage III qualification event slated for June 18 and 19 will earn quotas for the Tokyo Olympics. Deepika has been in great form this year, winning individual recurve gold at the World Cup Stage I in Guatemala City. The trio of Deepika, Ankita and Komalika were also in good nick, returning with the women’s team bronze.

If the Indian women’s team fails to finish within the top three in the qualification round, Deepika will be the lone Indian female representative at the Tokyo Olympics. Meanwhile, the Indian men’s recurve team of Atanu, Tarundeep, Pravin and Dhiraj Bommadevara have also been granted visas for the Archery World Cup Stage III.

Team India🇮🇳🏹 pic.twitter.com/631gYc7Ki5

— TheAtanuDas (@ArcherAtanu) June 4, 2021

Indian compound teams return at the Archery World Cup Stage III

The Archery World Cup Stage III will also see Indian men's and women's compound teams return to this stage. Sangampreet Singh Bisla, Rajat Chauhan, Aman Saini and Abhishek Verma constitute the Indian men’s compound team.

The Indian women’s compound team includes Akshita, Saanchi Dhalla, Pragati and Jyothi Surekha Vennam. Both teams had missed out on the first two stages of the World Cup.