Harvinder Singh Scripts History, Clinches Bronze After Spectacular Finish in Archery at Tokyo Paralympics
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Harvinder Singh
Day 11 of archery at Tokyo Paralympics saw the knockout rounds of the men’s singles archery take place. India’s Harvinder Singh and Vivek Chikara would be vying to finish with a medal, after Rakesh Kumar was recently eliminated in the round of 32.
Playing the very first match of the day, Harvinder Singh was up against Stefano Travisani of Italy in the round of 16. The match was a nail biter, as Singh took the first 2 sets of match, 27-24, 26-22. However, he slipped in the third set, losing 26-27. The fourth set saw a tie, with both archers scoring 25, but Travisani pulled out a tie after winning the last set 25-27. With the score 5-5, the match went to a thrilling shoot off, and Harvinder delivered when it mattered, shooting a 10 against the Italian’s 7, securing his place in the round of 8.
India’s Vivek Chikara had a dominant win over Sri Lanka’s Sampath Bandara Magahamulea Gadara, winning 6-2. Chikara took the first set 25-22, but dropped the second set 24-25. The Indian came back strong in the remaining sets, and won the match with 25-21, 25-21.
Chikara unfortunately crashed out in the round of 8, after losing against Great Britain’s David Phillips 7-3. Harvinder had another thrilling finish in the round of 8, as he went up against Bato Tsydendorzhiev of RPC. While Bato took the first 2 sets 28-26, 26-23, Harvinder made an incredible comeback in the next two sets, winning 29-26, 23-21. The last set led to a tie and it was another shoot off for the Indian. Keeping his nerves, Harvinder shot an 8, while Bato shot a 7, and Harvinder moved on to the quarterfinals, winning 6-5.
Harvinder Singh takes the bronze medal after gripping match in Archery at Tokyo Paralympics
The quarterfinals of men’s archery saw Singh go up against Maik Szarszewski of Germany, where the former took a dominant victory, with a final score of 6-2. Harvinder grabbed the first two sets with ease, winning 25-21, 28-23. Even though he let the third set slip from him 25-28, a score of 26-23 secured him a place in the semifinals.
The first semifinal was a clash between Harvinder and Kevin Mather of USA. Mather started off strong, taking the first set 28-25. The second and third sets saw Harvinder tie them, with both archers scoring 24 and 25. The Indian took the fourth set in a surprise 25-24 and the match went to a decider set after a level score of 4-4. The last set unfortunately did not go Singh’s way, as he lost 24-26.
This meant that Harvinder would go up against Min Su Kim of South Korea for the bronze medal match. Harvinder started of confidently, taking the first set 26-24. The second set, a fantastic display of skill saw Singh lose 27-29. The third set saw Harvinder take the lead, winning 28-25, making the score 4-2. The fourth set was shared between the two, with scores of 25 all. Singh needed to at least draw the last set to clinch the bronze medal. In dramatic fashion he match was taken to a shoot off once again, Singh delivered where it mattered with a fantastic 10 against Kim’s 8 to clinch to bronze medal.
It was a bronze medal for Harvinder Singh, the first in archery for India, as the nation’s medal tally grew to 13 after clinching the third medal of the day.
Also read: Tokyo Paralympics 2020: List of Indian Athletes Participating
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Saivee Phatak
(1164 Articles Published)