Indian players’ strong performance continues in Paris Paralympics 2024. Archer Harvinder Singh has won the gold medal. For the first time in the history of Paralympics, India has won a gold medal in archery. Harvinder defeated Poland’s Lukasz Cijek 6-0 in the final. This was India’s fourth gold medal in the current Paralympics. India’s medal count has now increased to 22.
After defeating Seng Lung Hui of Chinese Taipei 7-3, Harvinder defeated Setiawan Setiawan of Indonesia 6-2 in the pre-quarterfinals. Then he defeated Hector Julio Ramirez of Colombia 6-2 in the quarterfinals. Then Harvinder entered the final by defeating Iran’s opponent Mohammad Reza Arab Ameri 7-3 in the semi-finals. Harvinder is the first archer who has won the gold medal in the 1000 m sprint event.
Hailing from a farming family in Ajit Nagar in Haryana, Harvinder contracted dengue when he was 1.5 years old and was given injections to treat it. Unfortunately, the side effects of these injections resulted in him losing mobility in his legs. Despite initial challenges, he took up archery and finished seventh on his debut at the 2017 Para Archery World Championships.
Then he went on to win a gold medal at the 2018 Jakarta Asian Para Games and during the lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, his father converted his farm into an archery range so that he could train. Harvinder created history three years ago by winning a bronze medal at the Tokyo Paralympics as it was India’s first archery medal. Along with success in archery, he is also pursuing a PhD degree in Economics.
Source (PTI) (NDTV) (HINDUSTANTIMES)