Paris: Indian archer Harvinder Singh, who made history earlier in the Paris Paralympics, missed out on winning a second medal on Thursday. Harvinder, along with his partner Pooja Jatian, lost a close bronze medal match in the mixed team event to the Slovenian duo of Ziva Lavrinc and Dejan Fabcic.
The Indian pair started strong in the bronze medal match, taking a 2-0 lead after winning the first set 33-30. However, the Slovenian pair fought back, winning the second set 34-29 to level the score. Harvinder and Pooja regained the lead by taking the third set 38-33, but couldn’t maintain their momentum. The Slovenian archers won the fourth set 34-29, pushing the match to a shoot-off.
In the decisive shoot-off, Dejan Fabcic scored 9 points and Jiva Lavrinc hit a perfect 10, while Harvinder scored 8 points and Pooja managed 9. This close competition ended with the Indian team losing the bronze medal 4-5.
Earlier in the semi-finals, Harvinder and Pooja faced a tough challenge from Italy’s top-seeded pair, Elisabetta Mijno and Stefano Travisani. Despite a strong start, where they led 36-31 in the first set, the Indian duo couldn’t hold off the Italians, who took control of the match with four consecutive 10-point shots in the second set. Though Harvinder and Pooja won the third set 37-35, the Italians sealed the match by winning the fourth set 38-37, ending India’s hopes of reaching the final.
This result marks a challenging day for Indian archery at the Paris Paralympics, but Harvinder and Pooja’s efforts have shown the fighting spirit of Indian athletes on the global stage.
