Indian archers aim to break medal jinx, eye first Games medal in Paris

A different year and another Olympics, but for Indian archers, the target will be the same -- fetching their first ever medal at the Games.

More or less regular at the Olympics since debuting back in 1988, the archers will kick off the nation's Paris campaign here on Wednesday with the qualification rounds at the Les Invalides gardens here.

For the first time after London 2012, India will have a full six-member squad after both the men's and women's teams qualified on the basis of rankings. This means they will compete in all the five events.

Veterans Tarundeep Rai and Deepika Kumari, appearing in their fourth Olympics, will lead their young teammates, hoping to securing at least a top-10 finish in the qualification round to ensure a favourable draw.

Each archer will shoot 72 arrows and the scores in the qualification round of 128 athletes from 53 countries will decide the seeds for the main knockout competition beginning with the women's team finals on Sunday.

The qualifying roun