Dhiraj Bommadevara

Dhiraj Bommadevara
Personal information
Nationality Indian
Born (2001-09-04) 4 September 2001 (age 23)
Vijayawada, India
OccupationArcher
Medal record
Men's recurve archery
Representing  India
World Cup
Gold medal – first place 2024 Shanghai Men's Team
Silver medal – second place 2023 Antalya Men's Team
Bronze medal – third place 2023 Antalya Individual
Bronze medal – third place 2023 Medellín Men's Team
Bronze medal – third place 2023 Paris Men's Team
Bronze medal – third place 2024 Shanghai Mixed Team
Bronze medal – third place 2024 Antalya Mixed Team
Bronze medal – third place 2024 Antalya Individual
Asian Games
Silver medal – second place 2022 Hangzhou Men's Team
World Youth Championships
Gold medal – first place 2021 Wraclow Junior Men's Team

Dhiraj Bommadevara (born 4 September 2001) is an Indian recurve archer. [1] He finished fourth in the 2024 Paris Olympics.[2] Bommadevara is a gold, silver, and multiple bronze medalist at the World Cup. He also won a silver medal at the Asian Games and a gold medal at the World Youth Championships.

Personal life

Dhiraj is from Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh. His father Bommadevara Shravan Kumar used to be a technical official of the Archery Association of India. He studied for a degree at the SRR and CVR Government Degree College, Vijayawada.[3] He started archery at the Volga Archery Academy in Vijayawada in 2006. He joined Army in 2021 in the rank of Havaldar, after training at the Army Sports Institute in Pune for four years.[3][4] He is backed by Olympic Gold Quest.[4]

Career

Dhiraj was selected to represent India at the 2022 Asian Games at Hangzhou, China.[5] He took part in the Indian Men's recurve team along with Atanu Das and Tushar Shelke and won the silver medal at the 2022 Asian Games.[6][7][8] They lost the final to Republic of Korea.[9][10]

Later in 2023, he represented India at the World Championships in Berlin, Germany in the Men's team and individual events apart from the Mixed team event.[11][12] In the same year, he also took part in the Men's team and Men's individual events at the World Cup at Antalya, Turkey,[11] and in the Men's team, Men's individual and Mixed team events at the World Cups in Paris, France and Shanghai, China.[11] The next event in 2023, he won two bronze medals in the Men's team and Men's individual events at the World Cup Stage 3 at Medellin, Colombia.[11][13][14] In September 2023, he took part in the World Cup at Hermosillo.[15]

Earlier in January 2022, he defeated Tokyo Olympian Tarundeep Rai in the Ranking tournament at Hyderabad.[16]

In 2021, he won a bronze medal in the Men's individual event at the World Cups in Guatemala City, Guatemala and Paris, France.[11][17]

2024 Summer Olympics

Dhiraj made his first Olympic appearance in Paris in the 2024 Summer Olympics. After the ranking round, Dhiraj finished 4th (With a score of 681), making this one of the best rankings by an Indian archer in the Olympic Games. However, he lost 5-6(5+) to Canada's Eric Peters in a closely fought Men's Individual 1/16 Elimination Round. Dhiraj advanced to the quarterfinals in the Men's Team, along with Pravin Jadhav and Tarundeep Rai. However, the team lost to Turkey's team 2-6. Dhiraj scripted history, with Ankita Bhakat by competing in India's first-ever Olympic medal in archery in the Mixed Team Bronze Medal Match but lost 2-6 to United States of America's team.[18][19]

References

  1. ^ "Dhiraj Bommadevara | World Archery". www.worldarchery.sport. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
  2. ^ UtkarshClasses. "Archery World Cup 2024: Dhiraj Bommadevara Wins Bronze Medal". Utkarsh Classes. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
  3. ^ a b Padmadeo, Vinayak (14 January 2023). "Armyman Dhiraj Bommadevara on target, breaks WR in archery trials". wwwtribuneindia.com. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
  4. ^ a b "Right backing behind archer Dhiraj's success". The Times of India. 29 April 2023. ISSN 0971-8257. Archived from the original on 4 May 2023. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
  5. ^ "Full list of Indian athletes for Asian Games 2023". Firstpost. 26 August 2023. Archived from the original on 27 August 2023. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
  6. ^ ANI (6 October 2023). "India men's archery recurve team finishes with silver medal". www.business-standard.com. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
  7. ^ Malik, Varun; News, India TV (6 October 2023). "Asian Games 2023: Atanu Das, Dhiraj Bommadevara, Tushar Shelke bag Silver medal in recurve archery final". www.indiatvnews.com. Retrieved 6 October 2023. {{cite web}}: |last2= has generic name (help)
  8. ^ "Asian Games 2023: India settle for silver in recurve men's team event in archery after losing to South Korea". India Today. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
  9. ^ Chettiar, Ronald (6 October 2023). "Indian men's recurve team wins silver medal; women bag bronze". www.olympics.com. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
  10. ^ Desk, The Bridge (6 October 2023). "Asian Games 2023: Recurve Men's team wins historic silver". thebridge.in. Retrieved 6 October 2023. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  11. ^ a b c d e "Archery BOMMADEVARA Dhiraj - The 19th Asian Games". info.hangzhou2022.cn. Retrieved 5 October 2023.[permanent dead link‍]
  12. ^ "Failure a perfect target practice for archer Dhiraj". Hindustan Times. 9 September 2023. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
  13. ^ "World Cup Stage 3: Indian archers win men's recurve team bronze medal". Firstpost. 16 June 2023. Archived from the original on 21 June 2023. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
  14. ^ "World Cup Stage 3: Indian archers win recurve team bronze". Rediff. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
  15. ^ PTI (11 September 2023). "Dhiraj loses bronze play-off, India returns with a silver from Archery World Cup Final". Sportstar. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
  16. ^ "National archery: Sukhchain Singh clinches recurve title". The Times of India. 9 January 2022. ISSN 0971-8257. Archived from the original on 8 May 2023. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
  17. ^ "Indian archers bag two bronze medals in World Cup Stage 4". Hindustan Times. 17 August 2023. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
  18. ^ "Ankita Bhakat and Dhiraj Bommadevara miss medal by a whisker but script history for Indian archery in Paris Olympics". www.hindustantimes.com. Hindustan Times. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
  19. ^ "BHAKAT Ankita". olympics.com. olympics.com. Retrieved 2 August 2024.