Archer Harvinder Singh rocked the Paris Paralympics 2024 on Wednesday. He won the gold medal in the men’s individual recurve open final. He defeated Polish archer Lukas Ciszek 6-0 (28-24, 28-27, 29-25) in a one-sided final. Harvinder has created history. He has become the first Indian archer to win gold at the Paralympics. India’s medal tally in Paris has increased to 22. India currently has four gold, 8 silver, 10 bronze in its account.
In the recurve open category, archers stand and shoot from a distance of 70 meters. Harvinder started with nine points in the first set while Lucas also replied with nine points. Harvinder’s next shot hit 10 points while the Polish archer could only score seven points. The Indian archer then scored nine points to win the first set 28-24. In the second set, Cijek hit all three shots on nine points while Harvinder hit two nines and then 10 in the last attempt to win the set 28-27 and take a 4-0 lead.
Harvinder dominated the third set as well. He started with 10 points against Cijek’s seven points and then hit the next target on 10 points as well. The Indian archer scored nine points in the last attempt to win the set and the gold by 29-25. Harvinder entered the final by defeating Iran’s Mohammad Reza Arab Ameri 7-3 in the semi-finals. He was the first Indian archer to reach the final. Harvinder won the bronze at the Tokyo Paralympics. He is India’s only Paralympic medal-winning archer.
Hailing from a farmer family in Haryana, Harvinder contracted dengue when he was one and a half years old and was given injections for its treatment. Unfortunately, due to the side effects of these injections, he lost mobility in his legs. Despite initial challenges, he took up archery and finished seventh in his debut at the 2017 Para Archery World Championships. He then managed to win gold at the 2018 Jakarta Asian Para Games. During the lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic, his father converted his farm into an archery range so that he could train. (With agency inputs)
