PARIS: Tokyo Paralympics bronze medallist Harvinder Singh outclassed Tseng Lung-Hui of Chinese Taipei 7-3 to reach the men's recurve open pre-quarter-finals in the archery competition of the ongoing Paris Games on Wednesday.
Harvinder, the only Indian archer to have won a Paralympics medal, drew the first set 25-25, before shooting a 10 and a 9 to win the second set 27-26 and take a 3-1 lead.
Lung-Hui delivered a near-perfect third set, dropping only one point to win it 29-26 and level the scores at 3-3.
However, Lung-Hui faltered in the next two sets as Harvinder held his nerve to win 24-23 and 25-17, securing his place in the last 16.
In the recurve open class, archers shoot from a standing position at a distance of 70 metres at a 122cm target, scoring from 10 points down to 1 point from the centre outwards.
Hailing from a farming family in Ajit Nagar, Haryana, Harvinder faced significant adversity early in life. When he was just one and a half years old, he contracted dengue and received injections for treatment. Unfortunately, the side effects of these injections resulted in a loss of function in his legs.
Despite this early challenge, he found a passion for archery after being inspired by the 2012 London Paralympics. He made his debut at the 2017 Para Archery World Championship, finishing seventh. A gold medal at the 2018 Jakarta Asian Para Games followed, and during the COVID-19 lockdown, his father converted their farm into an archery range to support his training.
Harvinder made history by winning India's first-ever archery medal—a bronze—at the Tokyo Paralympics three years ago. Alongside his sporting success, he is pursuing a PhD in economics.