Paris [France], September 5 : India's para-archery duo Harvinder Singh and Pooja fell short in the bronze medal tie against Slovenia's Ziva Lavrinc and Dejan Fabcic in the mixed team recurve open at the Paris Paralympics on Thursday.
Despite the duo's inability to add another medal to India's record-breaking medal tally at the Paralympics, it was still a historic performance by the Indian para-archers.
This was the first time in the history of the Paralympics that the Indian para archery team won two medals, one gold and one bronze, in the marquee event. Harvinder got his hands on India's first-ever gold medal in para archery at the Paralympics. In a one-sided final, Harvinder ousted Poland's Lukasz Ciszek with a straight-set win, 6-0.
The Indian para-archery pair of Rakesh Kumar and Sheetal Devi clinched the bronze medal in the mixed-team compound event with a win over Eleonora Sarti and Matteo Bonnacina.
Despite starting brightly, they eventually succumbed to a 4-6 defeat in the bronze medal match. The hopes of the 26th medal in Paris rose after Harvinder and Pooja wrapped up the first set by 33-30.
But the Slovenian duo bounced back in the next set to level the bronze medal tie with a 29-34 win in the second set.
In the third set, India responded boldly with a dominant 38-33 win, but Lavrinc and Fabcic didn't allow the Indian pair to walk away with a win. They replied brilliantly with a 29-34 win in the fourth set to force the game to a shootout.
It was Slovenia's para-archers arrow that was closest to the centre point, which marked their bronze medal success in the Paris Paralympics.
Before playing the bronze medal match, the duo lost the semi-final affair against Italy's Elisabetta Mijno and Stefano Travisani. The Indian duo arrows didn't land on the desired mark and suffered a 6-2 defeat.
While in the quarter-finals, it was a comfortable 6-0 win for Harvinder and Pooja against Poland's Lukasz Ciszek and Milena Olszewska.
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