London, July 27 : Indian archers struggled to find the mark on the opening day of competitions at the London Olympics Friday with the men’s trio of Jayanta Talukdar, Tarundeep Rai and Rahul Banerjee turning in disappointing performances in the team and individual events.
The Indian team shot a total of 1969 points to finish 12th and last in the ranking round held at the iconic stadium.
South Korea topped the charts with a record-breaking score of 2087, ahead of France (2021 points) and China (2019). The top four teams get direct entry into the quarterfinals.
India, ranked third in the world, meet Japan in the elimination round Saturday. The Japanese shot 2009 to settle for fifth rank.
Jayanta, Rai and Banerjee struggled in the individual category too.
Rai came in 31st position shooting a combined total of 664 points in first and second half. Banerjee was 46th on 655 while Talukdar 53rd on 650.
South Korea’s Im Dong-Hyun set a new world record of 699 for 72 arrows.
Comments on this Article | |
Robert George, Dubai | Mon, July-30-2012, 1:21 |
Indian archers’ performance at the London Olympics has been utterly disappointing. Indians, who brag about their talent at the drop of a hat and criticize others, have been wide of the mark. It’s time selection criteria for global events such as the Olympics are made even more stringent. |