India's Olympic Hopes Dim as Archers and Shooter Face Defeats

Indian archer Bhajan Kaur and shooter Manu Bhaker experienced narrow defeats in their respective events at the Paris Olympics. Bhajan bowed out in the Round of 16, while Manu narrowly missed out on a historic third medal, finishing fourth in the 25m pistol event.

India archer Bhajan Kaur exited the individual women's archery event in the Round of 16 after a defeat to Indonesia's Diananda Choirunisa at the Paris Olympics on Saturday. The match ended tied at 5-5 (0-2, 2-0, 0-2, 1-1, 2-0), leading to a shoot-off.

Kaur trailed her Indonesian opponent throughout the contest, but forced a shoot-off by arrowing a crucial 10 on her final shot in the fourth set. In the tense decider, the 18-year-old fell short, hitting an 8 compared to Choirunisa's 9.

Meanwhile, Deepika Kumari progressed to the quarterfinals with a 6-4 win over Germany's Michelle Kroppen. Kumari's performance included a dominating first set and a decisive fifth set tie.

On the same day, India's Manu Bhaker narrowly missed securing her third Olympic medal in the women's 25m pistol event. Bhaker finished fourth after tying at 28 points with Hungary's Veronika Major, leading to a shoot-off. South Korea's Jiin Yang won gold, France's Camille Jedrzejewski took silver, and Major claimed bronze.

India's Olympic contingent has secured three bronze medals in shooting so far at the Paris games. (ANI)