- Monday, March 10, 2025
The Haryana-archer has impairment in his legs owing to a dengue treatment that adversely affected him when he was just a toddler
By: Shajil Kumar
HARVINDER SINGH became the first Indian archer to strike gold at the Paralympics before club thrower Dharambir also secured a top finish with a record-shattering throw as the country’s athletes continued to surpass expectations at the Paris Paralympics 2024.
World champion shot-putter Sachin Sarjerao Khilari and another club thrower Pranav Soorma’s silver-winning performances were a major highlight too on a terrific Wednesday for India.
Their performance took India’s medal haul to 24 and the nation is currently placed 13th in the overall standings with five gold, nine silver, and 10 bronze medals.
It is India’s best-ever performance at the event and will only get better with three more days of competition left.
The 33-year-old Harvinder, who became the first Indian to win an archery medal at the Games with a bronze three years ago in Tokyo, bettered the colour of his medal in a superlative performance of five consecutive wins.
He defeated Poland’s Lukasz Ciszek 6-0 in a one-sided final to script history for himself and the country.
The Haryana archer has an impairment in his legs owing to a dengue treatment that adversely affected him when he was just a toddler.
Icing on the cake was Dharambir’s Asian record 34.92m throw that helped him stay on top from start to finish, followed by Soorma (34.59m) in the F51 club throw finals.
The F51 club throw event is for athletes who have movement affected to a high degree in the trunk, legs and hands. All participants compete while seated and rely on their shoulders and arms to generate power.
Simran enters 100m finals
Continuing her good form, Indian sprinter Simran advanced to the women’s 100m (T12) final of the Paralympics after clocking 12.33sec in the semifinal race here on Thursday.
Accompanied by her guide Abhay Singh, the 24-year-old reigning world champion from New Delhi finished second behind Germany’s Katrin Mueller-Rottgardt in semifinal 2.
Simran, who was born prematurely with visual impairment, was ranked third overall in the semis. She will now compete in the four-sprinter final scheduled for later tonight.
Simran had produced a season’s best effort of 12.17sec in her heats on Wednesday.
Besides Simran and Mueller-Rottgardt, Ukraine’s Oksana Boturchuk and reigning Paralympic champion and world record holder Omara Durand of Cuba will compete for the top honours in the final.
The T12 category is meant for athletes who have visual impairment.
