India's Mixed Fortunes at Paris Paralympics 2024

Despite setbacks in shooting, India celebrates historic wins in archery and a strong overall performance at the Paris Paralympics. Highlights include Harvinder’s unprecedented gold and a remarkable medal tally boost.

In the para shooting mixed 50m rifle prone SH1 qualification at the Paris Paralympics, India's Sidhartha Babu and Mona Agarwal failed to advance. Sidhartha placed 22nd with 615.8 points, while Mona finished 30th with 610.5 points.

However, earlier on Wednesday, India celebrated a historic achievement. Harvinder bagged a gold medal in individual recurve para-archery, becoming the first Indian to win a medal in the sport at both the Olympics and Paralympics. In a dominant 6-0 victory against Poland's Lukasz Ciszek, Harvinder secured his place in history.

Moreover, Harvinder has now medaled in consecutive Paralympics, previously winning bronze at the Tokyo Paralympics 2020. This victory represents India's second archery medal at the Paris Games, following a bronze by the duo Rakesh Kumar and Sheetal Devi in the mixed team compound event.

In other events, Pooja Narayan faced a tough defeat in the Women's Individual Recurve Open quarterfinals against China's Wu Chunyan, bowing out 4-6. Meanwhile, para-athlete Sachin Khilari earned a silver medal in the men's shot put F46 final with a throw of 16.32 meters, narrowly missing gold by just 0.6 meters.

Monday and Tuesday saw the Indian contingent clinch 13 medals, raising their tally to a record 20, including three gold, seven silver, and ten bronze. With a current total of 24 medals (five gold, nine silver, ten bronze), India aims to extend this record haul further during the remaining days of the competition. Currently, India stands 15th in the medal tally.

The Tokyo Paralympics of August 2021 had been India's best performance until now, with 19 medals, including five gold, eight silver, and six bronze. (ANI)

(With inputs from agencies.)