Harvinder Singh wins India's first-ever medal in archery at Paralympics
What's the story
India's Harvinder Singh won the bronze medal in the men's individual recurve event at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics on Friday. He became the first-ever Indian to win a medal in archery at the Paralympic Games. Harvinder beat South Korea's Kim Min Su 6-5 in the bronze medal match. India have now won 13 medals at the ongoing Tokyo Paralympics. Here are further details.
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Harvinder won through a shoot-off
Harvinder won the bronze medal through a shoot-off. Both archers were leveled at 5-5 at the end of five sets. The Indian shot 10 in the shoot-off, with Kim Min Su registering eight. Notably, Harvinder didn't score a 10 in the last two sets.
Journey
A look at Harvinder's run
Harvinder earlier beat Italy's Stefano Travisani 6-5 through a shoot-off in the round of 32. He then trounced Russian Olympic Committee's Bato Tsydendorzhiev in the round of 16. Harvinder registered a comfortable win (6-2) against Germany's Maik Szarszewski in the quarter-final. However, the Indian lost 4-6 to USA's Kevin Mather in the semi-final. Harvinder then bounced back in the bronze medal match.
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Harvinder scripts history!
Harvinder has won the first-ever medal for India in archery at the Paralympics. He hails from a village named Guhla Cheeka in Haryana. He is an economics scholar from the Punjab University, Patiala. Harvinder was diagnosed with dengue when he was just a toddler. He received an injection to treat the same. However, the injection damaged his legs, which stopped working eventually.
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Harvinder won gold at the 2018 Asian Games
In 2018, Harvinder became the first athlete from India to win a gold medal in archery at a major para competition (at the Asian Games). He had defeated China's Zhao Lixue 6-0 in the W2/ST category final to claim the historic medal.
Medals
13th medal for India at Tokyo Paralympics
Earlier in the day, Praveen Kumar clinched the silver medal in the men's high jump T64 event. Soon after, shooter Avani Lekhara bagged her second medal at the Tokyo Paralympics. She had earlier won the gold medal in R-2 women's 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1. India have won 13 medals at the Tokyo Paralympics, their best tally at a single Paralympic edition.