Harvinder Singh: 'Once I reached final, I knew I wouldn't be happy with silver'

Para-archer Harvinder Singh had just one motive at the 2024 Paris Paralympics — to win gold and go where no other archer had gone at the Games. And he began to realise that dream when he won the men’s individual recurve open gold medal, which is two better than the bronze he won in the same event at the Tokyo Paralympics in 2021.

Before Harvinder’s feat on Wednesday , no archer had won a gold medal, be it in the Olympics or the Paralympics. He began with a Round of 32 win over Chinese Taipei’s Tseng Lung-Hui with a 7-3 scoreline. He began rather slowly, but rediscovered his rhythm towards the fifth set to seal the win. He then lost the first set against Indonesia’s Setiawan in the last-16 clash, before scoring 10s consistently and getting the better of him with a 6-2 score.

Also read | Who is Harvinder Singh?

He continued scoring the 10s consistently in the quarter-final against Hector Ramirez of Colombia, as well as in the semi-final against Mohammad Reza Arab Ameri of Iran, although he endured a few 7s and 8s during those matches.

“I was very happy when I reached the final and confirmed a medal for India. But I know that I wouldn’t be pleased with winning a silver, and the aim was gold for me. I had a discussion with my coach, and I knew that I could not make any mistakes in the final. You have to be mentally focused for the pressure match. For the final match, my strategy was to put pressure from the start,” Harvinder told reporters during a virtual media press conference on Friday.

In the final against Poland’s Lukasz Ciszek, the 33 year-old had it quite easy. He began the match with a 28-24 win over Lucasz in the first set. The Pole returned quite strongly in the second set, scoring three 9s to give himself a chance. Harvinder, though, scored a perfect 10 in his final attempt of the second set to extend his lead to 4-0. And two 10s in the third set for Harvinder almost sealed the deal. Lucasz, on the other hand, had no chance in the game anymore after he endured a seven in the third. At 6-0, the match was done and dusted with Harvinder clinching a historic gold and Lucasz collecting a silver.

“The thought was if I win the match in straight sets then there will be less pressure on me. I have seen athletes faltering in the end after taking a lead so my focus was not to give any chance to the opponent. For me, It was important to hit each arrow perfectly as one arrow can change the result of the match,” the Kaithal-born athlete added.

‘Believe in yourself’

When asked about if he had any message for young and upcoming athletes, Harvinder said that it was all about believing in yourself.

“See, for young athletes, it’s about believing in yourself. Believe in your coaches. It may not be the case where you end up winning medals in every competition you participate. If you do not end up winning any medal, that should motivate you to do even better in the forthcoming competitions,” he said.

Archery is not the only focus for Harvinder, who lost the functioning of his legs after taking an injection to treat dengue. He is currently pursuing PhD at Punjab University in Patiala. Studies, however, had taken a back seat ever since he won gold at the Asian Para Games in Jakarta in 2018.

“I was active in studies until 2018. From 2012, I would study in the morning and practice in the evening and there would be days when I would have two sessions,” he said.

“I got busier in sports after I got the medal (gold in Asian Para Games) in 2018 and because of all of that, my PhD got delayed."

“I am doing PhD in economics from the Punjab University in Patiala, and since I have to win medals for the country, preparations for big tournaments also happened at big level which does not give me time, but I hope to finish my PhD in the next few months,” Harvinder signed off.