National Archery Championships: Dhiraj Bommadevara, Kumkum Mohod top recurve qualification

Kumkum Mohod of Maharashtra achieved her career-best score on Thursday. | Photo Credit: RITU RAJ KONWAR

In tough weather conditions, World Cup Finals gold medallist Dhiraj Bommadevara and Asian Games champion Kumkum Mohod displayed their strong resolve to claim top spots in men’s and women’s recurve qualification rounds, respectively, on the inaugural day of the National Archery Championships at the Parade Ground in Shillong on Thursday.

Dhiraj scored 680, comprising 24 Xs, the most by a mile, and 14 10s. Kumkum recorded 677, consisting of 10 Xs and 26 10s, to improve upon her previous career-best total of 671.

The fickle weather switched from being sunny and warm to cloudy and windy before a bout of drizzle tested the archers thoroughly. The action was called off owing to bad light even before the day’s schedule could be completed.

Dhiraj, who reached here at 10 p.m. on Wednesday night, recovered quickly to score 343 in the first segment before a change in schedule forced an unusually longer break of more than an hour. He returned to shoot 337 in the second segment and took the top spot by a slim margin of one point.

“Because of the fluctuating weather, I got to learn so much in one day. One side of the ground is open, while on the other side there is a huge mountain wall. Whenever there was wind, it was difficult to guess. Happy to have tackled the tricky conditions well,” said Dhiraj.

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Former World Youth Champion Parth Salunkhe rode on his foreign exposure to register his season’s best aggregate of 679.

Kumkum performed effortlessly to achieve a new high. “I did not think too much about the conditions and tried to give my best,” said the 17-year-old.

Olympian and Asian Games women’s team gold medallist Ankita Bhakat was second with 662, while the seasoned Deepika Kumari placed 10th with 646.

Important recurve results:

Qualification round:

Men: 1. B. Dhiraj (SSCB) 680, 2. Parth Salunkhe (Mah) 6779, 3. Arjun Khara (Odi) 674 (15 Xs), 4. Devraj Mohapatra (Meg) 674 (12 Xs), 5. Sukhchain Singh (SSCB) 672, 8. Atanu Das (PSPB) 669, 9. Neeraj Chauhan (AIP) 667, 15. Yashdeep Bhoge (RSPB) 664.

Women: 1. Kumkum Mohod (Mah) 677, 2. Ankita Bhakat (Jha) 662, 3. Sangeeta (SSCB) 660, 4. Sharvari Shende (Mah) 657, 5. Gatha Khadake (Mah) 657, 8. Simranjeet Kaur (Pun) 650, 10. Deepika Kumari (PSPB) 646, 14. Komalika Bari (642, 16. Ridhi Phor (Har) 640.4.