Bhajan Kaur wins individual Olympic quota in archery with gold in Final Olympic Qualifier

Indian archer Bhajan Kaur has earned India's first women's individual recurve archery spot for the 2024 Paris Olympics by winning gold at the final world qualifying tournament in Antalya.

The gold medal match saw Bhajan Kaur defeat Iran's Mobina Fallah 6-2 in what was a crucial victory. With two nines to start, Kaur had a solid start and won the opening set 28–26. After a close match, the second set ended in a 29-29 draw.

After that, Kaur regained composure and won the third set 29–26. Even though the fourth set finished in a 29-29 tie as well, Kaur's previous dominance ensured her a 6-2 victory overall.

Earlier in the competition, the Indian archer displayed steady form throughout her 6-2 semifinal victory over Alexandra Mirca of Moldova. With a bye into the Round of 32, she started her rounds unbeaten and went on to overcome Mongolia's Urantungalag Bishindee 6-2. Then, after dropping just one set, she defeated Slovenia's Urska Cavic 7-3 and defeated Wioleta Myszor 6-0 in the quarterfinals.

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India secures double quota in Archery for Paris 2024

This achievement makes her the second Indian archer to secure a spot at the Summer Games, following Dhiraj Bommadevara in the men's event. Dhiraj Bommadevara secured his quota last year during the Asian Continental Qualifier Tournament in Bangkok. Each country is awarded one quota per gender, and India now has individual quotas in both categories.

Despite losing in the quarterfinals, Kaur's teammate Ankita Bhakat managed to qualify for the Olympics individually by making it to the last eight. Ankita Bhakat defeated Gabrielle Monica Bidaure of the Philippines 6-0 in the pre-quarterfinals to achieve her quota.

She had previously advanced to the Round of 16 by defeating Israeli competitors Shelley Hilton and Mikaella Moshe. But in the quarterfinals, Mobina Fallah ended her run, winning 6-4 in a tight battle.