Indian para archers earn two more quotas for 2024 Paris Games

Harvinder Singh in action during his Men’s Individual Recurve Semifinal against Kevin Mather of United States on day 10 of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games at Yumenoshima Park Archery Field on September 03, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan.
| Photo Credit: Getty Images

Tokyo Paralympics bronze medallist Harvinder Singh and Pooja have bagged quota places in recurve men and women open categories as India has collected a total of six archery quota places so far in the 2024 Paris Paralympics.

At the World archery para championships in Pilsen, Czech Republic, on Friday, Harvinder, who got a bye in the first round, beat Georgian Giorgi Managdze 6-0 and Azerbaijan’s Jahan Musayev 6-4 before losing 7-1 to Indonesia’s Kholidin in the pre-quarterfinals. He finished ninth to qualify for the Paralympics.

Pooja, who received a first round bye but went down against Italy’s Veronica Florence 6-2, grabbed an opportunity as she beat Korean Jo Jang Moon 6-5 (10-7) to place fourth in the secondary tournament and book a ticket to Paris.

Earlier, four Indian compound archers had secured quota places. The mixed team of Rakesh Kumar and Sarita reached the final to qualify.

Armless 16-year-old Sheetal Devi, who shoots with her feet, overcame three opponents before getting past top-ranked compatriot Sarita 137-133 in the semifinals and setting up a title clash with Turkey’s Oznur Cure. She also earned a quota place.

Sarita scored 697 (previous 696) out of a maximum of 720 points to set three world records, including a mixed team record with Rakesh and women’s doubles record with Sheetal apart from the individual mark.

Shyam Sundar Swami, who took second place in the secondary tournament, was the other Indian to qualify for the mega event.

The qualified para-archers: Harvinder Singh (recurve men open), Pooja (recurve women open), Rakesh Kumar and Shyam Sundar Swami (both compound men open), Sarita and Sheetal Devi (both compound women open).