Deepika, Ankita enter semis of Asian archery; secure Olympic quota

India secured an Olympic quota in archery's women's recurve event on Thursday after Deepika Kumari and Ankita Bhakat stormed into the semifinals of the 21st Asian Championships here.

Three individual places were up for grabs from the continental qualifications and Indian archers, who are competing without a flag due to the national federation's suspension, made a big statement with top seed Deepika and sixth seed Ankita making it to the last four to secure an individual Olympic berth.

Karma of Bhutan and Nguyet Do Thi Anh of Vietnam won the remaining two individual quota places at the Rajamangala National Stadium.

Deepika put up a flawless show to beat Nur Afisa Abdul Halil of Malaysia 7-2, Zahra Nemati (Iran) 6-4 and local girl Narisara Khunhiranchaiyo 6-2 to set up a semifinal clash against Nguyet.

"We wanted to give our best. But we were a little bit nervous earlier in the day. There was too much wind," Deepika said.

"We were desperate to win one more quota. We forgot about the ...