Harvinder Singh wins India’s first Paralympic gold medal in archery

Three years after becoming the first Indian to win an archery medal at Tokyo 2020, Harvinder Singh secured India’s first-ever Paralympic gold medal in the sport at Paris 2024 on Wednesday.

Competing in the men’s individual recurve open event at Invalides, Harvinder defeated Poland’s Lukasz Ciszek 6-0 in a one-sided final to claim the top spot.

"It feels fantastic, because it was a dream from 12 years ago when I started archery,” Harvinder said. "I just controlled my emotions, movements, controlled my shooting, and the result is this gold medal.”

The 33-year-old Indian para-archer made a strong start, winning the first set 28-24 to bag two points. Lukasz Ciszek was sharp in the second set, hitting a nine each from his three arrows. However, Harvinder Singh struck a perfect 10 on his third shot to lead 4-0.

With the gold medal on the line, Harvinder Singh began the third set with two 10s. In contrast, Lukasz Ciszek started the final set with a seven and never recovered to challenge Harvinder's precision in the open event.

"I have been practising very well the last few months, even scoring more than the world record,” the Indian explained.

"Unfortunately, I slipped to ninth in qualification (last Thursday), but I just made my emotions strong and just focused on my next match, because only then can I move into other rounds and, one by one, one match, one match, then finally the gold."

Archers competing in the open category may have an impairment in the legs and use a wheelchair or have a balance impairment and shoot standing or resting on a stool.

Harvinder Singh faced adversity when he was just over a year old. He contracted dengue and required injections for treatment. Unfortunately, the side effects of those injections led to the loss of function in his legs.

All five of Harvinder Singh’s victories on Wednesday came with a margin of at least four set points.

He began his day with a 7-3 win over Chinese Taipei’s Tseng Lung-Hui in the round of 32. Later, he overcame Indonesia’s Setiawan 6-2 and Colombia's Hector Julio Ramirez 6-2. In the semi-finals, he defeated Islamic Republic of Iran’s Mohammad Reza 7-3.

This was India’s second medal in archery at the Paris 2024 Paralympics. On Monday, Sheetal Devi and Rakesh Kumar clinched the bronze medal in the mixed compound open archery event.