Ankita Bhakat is an Indian archer who specializes in recurve archery. She is the only left-handed archer from India to compete in international competitions in women’s individual, women’s team and mixed team recurve events. In 2023, she attracted attention when she won a bronze medal in the women’s team event of recurve archery at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.
Wiki/Biography
Ankita Bhakat was born on Wednesday, June 17, 1998 (25 years old; as of 2023) in Sithi More, near Bala Nagar, Kolkata. Her zodiac sign is Gemini. At the age of 10, Ankita participated in a local archery competition held at the Circus Maidan in Kolkata, which made her curious about the sport. Soon after, she joined a local archery club in the city and started practicing. Facing financial difficulties, she struggled to afford expensive archery equipment. However, her passion for the game remains the same. To overcome this obstacle, she went without her own bow for long stretches of the trip, so she borrowed equipment from club members to practice with. In 2014, Ankita joined the Tata Archery Academy in Jamshedpur. There, she was trained by coaches Dharmendra Tiwari, Purnima Mahato and Ram Awdesh. Bhakat excelled at the Archery Association of India (AAI) trials and was selected for the Indian national team for the 2015 World Archery Youth Championship in Yankton. A week before the competition, she, along with 18 other Indian athletes and coaches, faced US visa denials.
appearance
Height (approximately): 5′ 5″
Hair color: black
Eye color: black
family
Parents and siblings
Ankita’s father’s name was Shantanu Bhakat, who was a milkman. Her mother’s name is Sheila Barkat.
archery
In 2015, she won the women’s recurve individual bronze medal and the women’s recurve team silver medal at the Seoul International Youth Archery Festival. In 2016, she defeated Prachi Singh 6-2 in the first round of the All-India competition, but lost 0-6 to Jeon Hoon Young in the quarter-finals of the women’s individual recurve competition in Bangkok. Indoor Archery World Cup (Phase 2). In the second stage of the 2017 Asian Cup in Bangkok, she faced Deepika Kumari in the women’s individual competition and lost 2-6. In the women’s recurve team competition, she and her teammates Promia Daimary and Sakshi Rajendra Shitole lost to the Chinese Taipei team in the final with a score of 0-6. In 2017, she participated in the women’s recurve competition at the 37th Indian Senior National Championships in Faridabad. Although she reached the final, she lost 6-2 to Deepika Kumari. In the 2017 Chinese Taipei Asian Cup (Third Stage) World Ranking Tournament, she participated in women’s individual, women’s team, and mixed team events. She won a bronze medal in the mixed team event with her partner Mukesh Boro. In 2017, while training in Sonipat, Haryana, she was selected as one of the 24 members to represent the Indian national team at the 2017 World Archery Youth Championship in Rosario, Argentina. At the World Junior Archery Championships, Ankita Bhakat and her partner Jameson Singh Nintujam competed against the Russian team in the recurve junior mixed team event and won 6-2. They defeated South Korea (5-4) in the quarter-finals and Ukraine (6-0) in the semi-finals to reach the final. They won the gold medal and finished ninth in the tournament. The victory marked India’s fourth World Youth Championship title in six years since Deepika Kumari won it in 2009 and 2011. In April 2018, Ankita participated in the women’s individual, women’s team and mixed team recurve events at the Archery World Cup. In the qualifying round, she finished eighth in the individual recurve event with 665 points (out of 720 points). In the third round, she defeated Membela Devi Leshiram with a score of 6-4, but in the fourth round, she lost to Chinese player An Qixuan 4-6. In the women’s team competition, she entered the quarter-finals with teammates Promila Daimari and Deepika Kumara, but lost to the Chinese team 1-5. In the mixed team event, she partnered with Atanu Das and lost to the United States 4-5 in the quarterfinals. In May 2018, Ankita participated in the second stage of the Archery World Cup held in Antalya, Turkey, participating in the women’s individual and women’s recurve team competitions. In the team competition, she partnered with Promila Daimari and Deepika Kumari and defeated the French team and the Russian team with scores of 5-3 and 5-1 respectively, winning the second round and quarter-finals. However, the team lost to South Korea 2-6 in the semifinals. In 2021, the Indian women’s recurve team consisting of Ankita Bhakat, Deepika Kumari and Komalika Bhari won the gold medal at the Archery World Cup in Guatemala. In January 2022, she won the women’s individual recurve championship at the national archery ranking competition.
Ankita Bhakat wins silver medal at National Archery Ranking Tournament
In 2022, Ankita won a silver medal in the recurve women’s team final of the Paris Archery World Cup Phase 3, along with Deepika Kumari and Simranjit Kaur.
Ankita Bhakat (right) with her team after winning silver in the third stage of the Archery World Cup in Paris
In March 2023, Ankita won the silver medal at the 43rd NTPC Senior National Championship.
Ankita Bhakat wins silver medal at 43rd NTPC Senior National Championship
In April 2022, Ankita won a gold medal and Rs. The first-ever Khelo India Women’s National Archery Ranking Tournament held at JRD Tata Sports Center has a prize money of Rs 5 lakh.
Ankita Bhakat wins India’s Khelo Women’s National Archery Ranking Tournament
In August 2023, the Indian recurve women’s team consisting of Bhajan Kaur, Simranjeet Kaur and Ankita Bhakat archery in Paris In the fourth stage of the World Cup, they defeated Mexico 5-4 and won the bronze medal. In October 2023, Ankita and Bhajan Kaur won the bronze medal in the women’s recurve competition at the Asian Games.
Ankita Bhakat wins bronze medal at Asian Games
medal
- 2017 – Women’s Team Recurve Gold Medal at the Rosario World Junior Archery Championships
- 2022-Hangzhou Asian Games Women’s Team Recurve Bronze Medal
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education