Indian mixed archery team misses out on bronze

Paris: The history-making Indian mixed team of Ankita Bhakat and Dhiraj Bommadevara came agonisingly close to ending India's 36-year wait for an Olympic medal in archery but fell short to finish fourth at the Games here on Friday.

The team had already created history by entering the semifinals of the Summer Games for the first time. But the duo lost 37-38 35-37 38-34 35-37 to the American combine of world no.1 Casey Kaufhold and three-time Olympic-medallist Brady Ellison to join the fourth-finishers' club at the Olympics. It was nonetheless the best ever performance by an Indian team in the quadrennial showpiece. Ankita felt the pressure the most as she fired two 7s and could manage only a couple of 10s in the course of the four sets. Trailing 0-4, the Indians did well to make a comeback as Ankita struck a superb 10. All four Indian arrows were in the yellow zone while Casey looked a bit nervous firing a 7 with her first arrow before a 9 and 10.