Bhavani, who reached Tokyo on Tuesday, wasted no time to start her training.
Indian archer Atanu Das expressed disappointment at being denied the chance to play the mixed team event with his world No. 1 wife Deepika Kumari, whom he credited for his stunning victory over two-time Olympic champion Oh Jin Hyek in the men's individual even at the Tokyo Olympics on Thursday.
The couple exchanged rings in an engagement ceremony in Ranchi on Monday and will tie the knot next year.
Deepika, Ankita Bhakat and Komalika Bari will have to finish in top-3 to make the last available berth for the Tokyo Olympics which opens on July 23.
Atanu Das, competing as a neutral athlete under the World Archery flag due to the suspension of the Indian federation, beat Jin Hayek Oh of Korea in the shoot-off match for the bronze medal.
While a billion hearts would pray for all the participants to do well, all eyes would be set on the duo of Deepika Kumari/Atanu Das, the four shooters and Mirabai Chanu to open India's medals count.
'My day starts off with Pranayam and visualisation practice for about 45 minutes. After breakfast, it's time to learn some cooking'
The trio of Bombayala Devi, Deepika Kumari and Rimil Buriuly came up with a brilliant performance to beat the mighty South Koreans in the final of the recurve team final in Poland on Sunday.
After failing to secure the team quota at the World Championships in June last year, the Indian women's archery team will have their last shot to secure the full Olympics quota in Paris, as a separate tournament is planned ahead of the World Cup in June next year.
'Watch our Indian athletes in Tokyo Olympics,' Virat Kohli said in a video
That Deepika uses a heavy bow of 44-pound, an excess of four pounds from what the women archers normally use, is also adding to her misery.
Indian challenge in the individual archery recurve section is almost over with all archers save Deepika Kumari have crashed out of their respective events.
India clinched one gold and one bronze in the recurve section to finish second behind Korea with six medals in the Asian Archery Championship that concluded in Chinese Taipei on Saturday.
Four-time silver medallist Deepika Kumari was beaten by Tan Ya-ting in straight sets to make an embarrassing first round exit from the Archery World Cup Final in Rome on Sunday.
Das failed to score a 10 in the fifth set and slipped to the red-circle for an 8, which proved costly, as home favourite Takaharu Furukawa sealed the issue by a solitary point margin in the decider.
Das saw off a tough challenge from Chinese Taipei's Deng Yu-Cheng earlier in the day.
Indian athletes, including the boxers and shooters, hit the ground running as they started their pre-Olympic training, hoping to live up to massive expectations in the pandemic-hit Games in Tokyo.
Power of love helps archer Atanu Das defeat 2012 champion Oh.
The sixth seeded Indian mixed team will take on fourth-seeded Turkey in its bid to win country's third bronze medal from the meet.
Harmanpreet Kaur got back among the runs with a 63-run knock in the fifth ODI against New Zealand and followed that up with a century (104) in the World Cup warm-up match against South Africa.
Former India opener and BJP MP Gautam Gambhir on Thursday clarified that the archery ground at the Yamuna Sports Complex has only been upgraded after some top Indian archers, including World No 1 Deepika Kumari, raised concerns about it being converted into a cricket field.
Masks, sanitisers and strict social distancing measures would be in place when top Indian archers Deepika Kumari and Atanu Das tie the knot at Morabadi in Ranchi on Tuesday. Getting hitched amid the COVID-19 pandemic to make use of the "free time", the duo's invitation cards carry small notes that request the guests to adhere to the government's COVID-19 guidelines.
Deepika managed to stay in the top 10 in the qualification round with a total score of 663.
Following is India's schedule at the Tokyo Olympics on Saturday, July 24.
Deepika and Atanu form the mixed team and they kickstarted their training
Locked 5-5 after the regulation five-setter, the 27-year-old Indian held her nerves in the shoot-off to deliver a perfect 10, hitting the bull's eye, to topple the Russian, a team silver medallist at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
India's Deepika Kumari and Anikita Bhakat won the gold and silver medals respectively in the women's individual recurve event of the 21st Asian Archery Championships in Bangkok on Thursday.
Indian pair of Atanu Das and Deepika Kumari faltered against American Olympic medalists Brady Ellison and Khatuna Lorig in the mixed section semifinals of the Archery World Cup Stage 3 being held in Medellin, Colombia.
The senior recurve and compound teams could not board the flight to Medellin in Colombia and were forced to pull out of the season-opening stage one of the World Cup beginning on Monday.
Jyothi Surekha Vennam and Abhishek Verma reached the third round of the Archery World Championships after finishing sixth and seventh in the compound men and women qualification rounds respectively.
The Archery Association of India (AAI) on Sunday selected Atanu Das to represent the country in the men's recurve event at the Rio Olympics after conducting trials in Bengaluru.
Former World champion Dola Banerjee expects India's archers to break their Olympics medal jinx at the Rio de Janeiro gathering from August 5 to 21.
The schedule of Indian athletes at the London Olympics 2012 on Friday, July 27, 2012.
The Indian contingent's schedule at the Rio Olympics for Wednesday.
Top ranked women recurve archer Deepika Kumari (Jharkhand) retained the individual title, while in the men's section Atanau Das (PSPB) emerged winner in the Individual Olympic Round of the 34th Senior National Archery Championship at JRD Tata Sports complex in Jmashedpur.
Deepika, world number seven, and the 19th ranked Atanu were favourites against the Mongolians.
Ranked fourth in the qualification round, Deepika found the going tough against the second seed, who produced fine shooting, including a flawless third set to clinch the match 6-0 in her favour.
The Indian recurve archers wrapped up a thoroughly disappointing performance at the 17th Asian Games after the women's team lost a tense bronze medal match to Japan in a shoot-off in Incheon on Sunday.
World No. 1 archer Deepika Kumari survived some anxious moments before getting past US teenager Jennifer Mucino-Fernandez 6-4 to sail into the pre-quarter-finals of the women's individual archery competition at the Tokyo Olympics, on Wednesday.
Country's archers have proved their mettle at the international level but they tend to choke at the biggest stage.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances