NEW DELHI: Bhajan Kaur secured an Olympic individual quota for India in a remarkable fashion by clinching the gold medal at the 'Archery In Paris Final Olympic Qualifier' in Antalya, Turkey on Sunday.
Despite the disappointing performance of top archer Deepika Kumari, who was eliminated in her first match, Bhajan stole the spotlight by defeating top-seed Mobina Fallah of Iran in straight sets to claim the gold, as reported by PTI.
Seeded third, Bhajan showcased exceptional shooting skills throughout the tournament. In the final, she outclassed Mobina with a score of 6-2 (28-26, 29-29, 29-26, 29-29).
Although Ankita Bhakat, Bhajan's teammate, was knocked out in the quarterfinals, she also secured an individual Olympic quota by virtue of reaching the last eight.
Individual quotas are awarded to the top eight nations, with each country receiving one quota. India has now secured individual quotas in both the men's and women's sections, with Dhiraj Bommadevara having already secured the men's individual quota from the Asian qualifying leg.
Bhajan's journey to the gold began with a bye into the round of 32, where she defeated Urantungalag Bishindee of Mongolia 6-2 (29-27, 28-26, 26-29, 27-24).
She then overcame Urska Cavic of Slovenia 7-3 (28-22, 29-18, 28-28, 26-27, 27-24) despite dropping one set. In the quarterfinals, Bhajan outclassed Wioleta Myszor 6-0 (30-28, 27-24, 30-28), shooting two perfect sets.
Ankita's Olympic quota was confirmed when she defeated Gabrielle Monica Bidaure of the Philippines 6-0 (26-23, 28-22, 28-23) in the pre-quarterfinals.
Earlier, she had beaten Shelley Hilton 6-4 (24-26, 25-25, 28-20, 25-25, 27-25) and Mikaella Moshe 7-3 (28-25, 25-27, 27-27, 28-25, 26-25), both from Israel, to reach the last 16.
However, Ankita's run was halted by Mobina in the quarterfinals, who prevailed 6-4 (27-27, 28-27, 27-29, 27-27, 29-28) in a closely contested match.
