Indian archers knocked by top seed Korea in men's team quarterfinals
Tokyo: Indian archers faltered at crucial moments against the mighty Koreans to make a quarterfinal exit from the men's team event at the Tokyo Olympics, here on Monday.
After beating Kazakhstan 6-2, the Indian trio of Atanu Das, Pravin Jadhav and Tarundeep Rai lost in straight sets against the top seeds at the Yumenoshima Park.
The Korean team of Kim Je Deok, Oh Jin Hyek and Kim Woojin were on song in the first two sets, shooting 10 perfect 10s out of 12 to apply early pressure.
The Indians, who won a silver medal at the 2019 World Championships, responded well in the second set with a series of four 10s but Das faltered with an 8 in the last arrow, as Koreans looked on a roll.
India were let down by Guatemala City World Cup gold medallist Das who failed to repeat his brilliant show earlier against Kazakhstan. He could not find a single 10 in three sets.
Olympic debutant Jadhav on the other hand was brilliant with five 10s, while veteran Rai in his third Games appearance also stepped it up with three 10s, but that was simply not enough.
Earlier, Das had drilled in six perfect 10s to play a crucial role in team's win 6-2 win over Kazakhstan in their opening round.
India's hope for their first ever medal in archery in the Olympics will now rest in the individual section where the men's trio along with world number one Deepika Kumari will take to the field on Wednesday.
Against Kazakhstan, the Indians were strong, especially Das who drilled in six perfect 10s to play a crucial role in team's win.
The Kazakhstan troika of Denis Gankin, Ilfat Abdullin, Sanzhar Mussayev showed flashes of brilliance. They took the third set with one point margin.
Das made all the difference by hitting six perfect 10s including two Xs to make up for some inconsistent show by the Army duo of Rai and Jadhav.
Das showed tremendous resilience to bounce back after finishing a lowly 35th, four places behind Olympic debutant Jadhav, in the ranking round on the opening day.
The poor finish had resulted in Das' removal from the mixed team where his wife Deepika Kumari paired up with Jadhav and made a quarterfinal exit following defeat against Korea on Saturday.
Trailing by two points at the halfway mark of the first set, Jadhav and Das finished with two superb arrows, drilling in X each to edge out their Kazakhstan rivals by one point.
There were gusts of wind in the second set and the Army duo of three-time Olympian Rai and debutant Jadhav were wobbly picking 8 and 7 each, but Das made up for it with a perfect 10 and a 9 to give the side a commanding 4-0 lead.
It was some high class shooting in the third set after the Kazakhstan team stepped it up with three perfect 10s as the Indians too matched them riding on two 10s by Das but an 8 by Rai cost them the set.
The Kazakh team showed intent to bring the match on an even keel but the Indian trio did not concede an inch and sealed the issue with two 10s from Jadhav and Das.
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Electoral trusts fill BJP coffers after scrapping of electoral bonds, shows ECI website
New Delhi: Contrary to expectations that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would be adversely affected by the Supreme Court’s scrapping of the electoral bonds scheme in February 2024, the party’s finances have seen a significant boost in 2024–25 through electoral trusts. It has emerged that electoral trusts alone donated ₹2,577 crore to the BJP during this period.
Following the abolition of electoral bonds, corporate donors seeking partial anonymity appear to have shifted to the electoral trust route, with the BJP continuing to be the largest beneficiary.
According to data available on the Election Commission of India’s website, a total of ₹4,276 crore was donated through electoral trusts, of which the ruling BJP received 83.6 per cent. Compared to 2023–24, corporate donations flowing to the BJP have increased nearly fourfold. The Congress received 7.3 per cent of the total donations, while the Trinamool Congress accounted for 3.6 per cent.
Donations received through electoral trusts constitute only a portion of the total funds collected by political parties. Parties also receive contributions directly from individuals, corporates, institutions and charitable organisations. Over the past several years, donations from sources other than electoral trusts have also shown a steady increase.
