Xtra Time Web Desk: Harvinder Singh on Friday claimed India’s first-ever archery medal at the Paralympics, holding his nerves to get the better of Kim Min Su of Korea in a thrilling shoot-off for the men’s individual recurve bronze at the Games in Tokyo.
World No. 23 Harvinder collected three shoot-off wins on the day starting with his triumphs in the opening rounds.
In the playoff for the bronze, the 31-year-old was leading 5-3 before the Korean clinched the fifth set, scoring a perfect 10 to force a shoot-off, where the Indian responded in style. Harvinder shot a perfect 10 against Kim’s 8 for a 6-5 (26-24, 27-29, 28-25, 25-25, 26-27) (10-8) win.
A gold medallist at the Asian Para Games in 2018, Harvinder, who is pursuing a PhD in economics from the Punjabi University in Patiala, developed interest in archery after watching the 2012 London Olympics.
In the semi-finals, he lost to world No. 10 Kevin Mather of the US.
Earlier in the day trailblazing shooter Avani Lekhara became the first Indian woman to win two Paralympic medals by claiming the 50m Rifle 3 Position SH1 bronze to add to an unprecedented gold she had won earlier in the ongoing Games.
The 19-year-old Lekhara qualified second for the event with a score of 1176, including 51 inner 10s.
In the fiercely contested finals, Lekhara totalled 445.9 to finish ahead of Ukraine’s Iryna Shchetnik, who let slip her grip on the medal spot with a poor third shot of 9.9 in the elimination.
Lekhara had become the first Indian woman to win a Paralympic gold by claiming the top honours in the 10m air rifle standing SH1 event.
The Jaipur-based shooter, who sustained spinal cord injuries in a car accident in 2012, had fired a world record equalling total of 249.6, which was also a new Paralympic record.