Rakesh Kumar continued his impressive run of form to storm into the pre-quarter-finals even as teammate Shyam Sundar Swami made a second-round exit as Indian compound archers had a mixed day at the Paralympic Games, in Tokyo, on Saturday.
His was India's second medal in archery at the ongoing Games after Sheetal Devi and Rakesh Kumar combined for the compound mixed team bronze.
Join Abhishek Verma on Rediff Chat at 1 pm IST on October 10, where he will talk about his experience at the Asian Games, his preparations before the Asiad and the feeling of being an Asian Games gold medalist.
There was nobody to look after the archers, they were training on their own though their parents were outside the ground. An arrow shot by a boy trainee who was doing compound event practice hit her on the shoulder.
Apart from archery, the Indians also bagged two medals in shooting.
Indian archers had a good outing, picking a gold and two silver medals, from the team championship at the 16th Asian Archery Championships in Bali on Friday.
The archers have also confirmed 10 more medals including at least three gold on Sunday.
'I never expected it, because my personal best in a competition was 710. And this is my best score.'
Archer Aditi Swami's parents from Maharashtra's Satara were in a 'suit hunt' at Delhi's Palika Bazar after arriving at the national capital on a frigid winter morning to attend their daughter's Arjuna Award ceremony on Tuesday.
Having lost the men's and women's team events in the morning session, Verma and Dahal were India's only hope to sign off with a medal and the duo did not disappoint.
India schedule for the fifth day of the Paris Paralympics on Monday.
Indian archers remained on course for a fourth bronze medal in the World Cup Stage 3 in Medellin on Friday.
Deepika Kumari bagged her fourth silver medal in five years at the 'Archery World Cup Final' after going down to Korea's Choi Misun in Mexico City.
The Archery Association of India (AAI) also have roped in two-time Italian World Cup winner Sergio Pagni, who is accompanying the compound team to the Turkey World Cup.
World Championship triple silver medallist Jyothi Surekha Vennam overcame the mighty Korean challenge twice, including in a gripping but controversial final, to win the women's compound individual gold at the Asian Archery Championships in Dhaka on Thursday.
The women's compound team thus has been unbeatable this season, having won the World Cup Stage 1 and Stage 2 gold medals in Shanghai and Yecheon in April and May respectively.
Check out India schedule on Sunday, Day 4 of competition at the Paris Paralympics 2024 where Nitesh Kumar and Sukant Kadam are one step away from Paralympic glory.
Delhi lad Abhishek Verma has bagged India's first ever 'Archery World Cup Final' medal in the compound section when he won a silver after being pipped by Turkey's Demir Elmaagcli in the summit clash in Mexico City.
India won a first-ever archery World Cup medal in the compound women section when Trisha Deb, Gagandeep Kaur and Lily Chanu P beat their Italian opponents in the bronze medal play-off in Shanghai on Saturday.
India's women's recurve team shocked top seeds Germany 5-3 to set up a gold medal clash with Chinese Taipei in the first stage of the archery World Cup at the Yuanshen Stadium, in Shanghai, on Friday.
Pravin Sawant now hopes his archery training academy, built on one-acre sugarcane farmland, will finally get due recognition, after producing India's two world champions Aditi Swami and Ojas Deotale.
India's golden girl Deepika Kumari led the women contingent to a new height stunning world champions Korea in the World Cup, while the relatively new compound archers too emulated their recurve teammates in what turned out to be a good year for Indian archery.
She last won a medal in the World Cup Stage 3 where she had bagged a team silver.
Rakesh started on the backfoot with Ken pulling off a perfect first end shooting 30 out of 30, while the Indian dropped a point.
Indian archers produced an impressive performance, grabbing three gold, four silver and two bronze medals at the Asian Championships in Dhaka on Thursday.
Deepika Kumari fell short of a successive Archery World Cup medal in her international comeback after becoming a mother, losing to world No 2 Lim Sihyeon and No 3 Alejandra Valencia in Yecheon, South Korea, on Sunday.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Saturday
India's women recurve team, comprising Deepika Kumari, Laishram Bombayla Devi and Chekrovolu Swuro set up a gold medal clash against the Korean heavyweights at the Archery World Cup Stage I in Shanghai on Friday.
The silver and two bronze at the 2019 World Championships took India's overall count to eight medals in the premier biennial competition.
Powered by a stupendous performance in the compound section, India claimed one gold, three silver and one bronze in the individual section of the Asian Grand Prix archery in Bangkok on Saturday.
India have sent an 84-strong contingent of para-athletes, the largest ever in the country's history -- a heady mix of youth and experience, for the Paralympic Games, starting in Paris on Wednesday.
India assured themselves of at least another silver medal in the 17th Asian Games after the trio of Abhishek Verma, Rajat Chauhan and Sandeep Kumar entered the final of the compound men's team archery event in Incheon on Thursday.
Rajat Chauhan ensured India a medal by making the final in the compound section, while Laxmirani Majhi advanced to the bronze medal play-off in the women's recurve in the World Archery Championships, in Copenhagen, on Thursday.
Saini, who had won the compound mixed team gold with Pragati, made amends in the bronze place playoff, when he beat Frenchman Victor Bouleau 148-146 to sign off with three medals (one gold, two bronze).
India's archers claimed a double in the compound events, winning both the men's and women's team gold medals in the World Cup Stage 4.
Rajat Chouhan and Manjudha Soy lost out by one point in the compound mixed team final to earn India a silver medal in the Archery World Cup Stage II at Antalya, Turkey on Saturday.
India clinched a bronze medal in the compound men's team event to open their account in the Archery World Cup Stage 3 being held in Medellin, Colombia.
The Indian men's recurve team comprising Rahul Banerjee, Jayanta Talukdar and Mangal Singh Champia ranked second overall in the FITA round qualification of the 16th Asian archery championship at Bali, Indonesia.
A summary of Indian athletes' showing at the Paralympics, in Paris, on Monday, September 2.
Indian archers bagged six gold, two silver and three bronze medals to reign supreme in the Dhaka leg of the Asian Grand Prix in Kolkata.
