Harvinder Singh won a historic first-ever gold medal for India in para archery at Paris Paralympics on Wednesday.
Harvinder defeated Poland’s Lukasz Ciszek 6-0 (28-24, 28-27, 29-25) in the men’s individual recurve open final to clinch his second straight medal at the Paralympic Games. He had created history by bagging the bronze medal in the same category three years ago in Paris, thus becoming the first-ever Indian archer to stand on the podium at the quadrennial event.
Earlier, Harvinder came from 1-3 down to beat Iran’s Mohammad Reza Arab Ameri 7-3 (25-26, 27-27, 27-25, 26-24, 26-25) in the semifinals.
In Paris, it is India’s second medal in archery following Sheetal Devi and Rakesh Kumar’s bronze medal in the mixed team compound open event.
Harvinder’s medal takes India’s tally to 22 medals – four gold, eight silver and 10 bronze. It is the nation’s best medal-haul at a single edition, going past the previous mark of 19 set in Tokyo.
HIGHLIGHTS | How Harvinder Singh won India’s first-ever gold medal in archery at Paralympics
Harvinder, who finished ninth in the ranking round, began his campaign in the knockout stages in Paris with a 7-3 (25-25, 27-26, 26-29, 24-23, 25-17) win over Chinese Taipei’s Tseng Lung-Hui. He followed it up with a 6-2 (27-28, 28-25, 28-27, 28-15,) victory over Indonesia’s Setiawan to reach the quarterfinals.
In the last-eight fixture, Harvinder was up against Colombia’s Hector Julio Ramirez, who had knocked out top-seeded Frenchman Guillaume Toucoullet in the previous round. Nevertheless, the 33-year-old India never fell behind and eventually sealed a 6-2 (25-25, 28-24, 27-27, 26-25) win.
Harvinder will team up with Pooja to compete in the mixed team recurve open event on Thursday.
Overcoming setbacks
Harvinder, who hails from a Kaithal, a remote village in Haryana, had dengue when he was just one-and-half years old and a local doctor administered him an injection that had an adverse effect and his legs stopped working properly. He belongs to a middle-class farming family.
According to an interview in paralympic.org, he first saw the sport when a few archers were training at the Punjabi University in 2010. Two years later, he caught broadcast of the athletes competing at the London Paralympics which inspired him to take up the sport himself.
He first came into the limelight when he clinched a gold medal in the men’s individual recurve open event at the 2018 Asian Para Games in Jakarta. That medal came just 20 days after his mother had passed away.
Three years later, he created history by winning the country’s first Paralympic medal in the sport in Tokyo.
Last year, Harvinder was a part of the team which won bronze medal in men’s doubles recurve event at the Asian Para Games in Hangzhou.