Paralympics 2024 India Highlights, Day 7: Harvinder clinches gold in recurve archery; Dharambir, Pranav win gold and silver in club throw

More and more medals for India at Paralympics! Dharambir and Pranav Soorma clinch gold and silver respectively in men’s club throw F51 competition. Dharambir threw a best of 34.92m, which is now an Asian record, whereas Pranav attempted 34.59m. Disappointment for Amit Kumar, however, as he finishes last in the 10-player field with a score of 23.96m.

A look at the final standings:

Not the best of throws from Amit Kumar, the third Indian in the fray in men’s club throw F51 competition. He manages just two legal throws, with one of them going 23.96m. India’s Dharambir and Pranav Soorma are in first and second place respectively, which means the duo could be in for a gold-silver medal finish.

Pranav Soorma finishes with a best throw of 34.59m in the men’s club throw F51 final, and is currently in second place, behind his fellow Indian Dharambir who is first with a throw of 34.92m.

Here’s a look at the final scores from the men’s individual recurve open final, where Harvinder Singh won a historic gold.

In less than 10 minutes the men’s club throw F51 final will get underway at Stade de France.

Three Indians are competing in this event — Dharambir, Pranav Soorma and Amit Kumar. Both Dharambir and Pranav have a personal best in the 35-metre mark, and are the only competitors alongside Mexico’s Mario Santana Ramos Hernandez with a PB in that range, making the three the top medal contenders.

Harvinder Singh faces Poland’s Lukasz Ciszek in the final after the latter defeats Australia’s Kenton-Smith Taymon 6-2 in the other semi-final that takes place right after.

Harvinder, meanwhile, is the first Indian archer competing in a Paralympic final, and will be hoping to win the country’s first ever gold at the event in para-archery.

The bronze medal match between Arab Ameri and Taymon will begin at 10.57 pm while the final between Harvinder and Ciszek begins at 11.14 pm.

HARVINDER SINGH ADVANCES TO THE FINAL! With his semi-final victory, Harvinder confirms at least a silver in the men’s individual recurve open event — India’s second archery medal in the Paris Paralympics!

Superb fightback by the Indian after conceding Set 1 to Arab Ameri, tying the second set before winning the next three in a row.

He confirms his victory by winning Set 5 26-25, and is now set to upgrade his Tokyo 2020 bronze with a gold or a silver in the final, which will be taking place later tonight.

Harvinder surges ahead for the first time, clinching Set 4 26-24 to open up a two-point lead at 5-3!

Can he seal his place in the final by winning a third consecutive set win?

Harvinder catches up with Arab Ameri, taking Set 3 27-25 after shooting 9, 8 and 10.

Can the Indian move into the lead for the first time in Set 4?

The Iranian remains in the lead 3-1 after Set 2 ends in a tie at 27-all! Harvinder hits a hat-trick of 9s while Arab Ameri starts off with an 8 and follows it up with a 10 and a 9

Set 3 could be crucial to Harvinder’s chances of fighting for gold.

Right then, Harvinder Singh’s semi-final clash against Iran’s Mohammad Reza Arab Ameri is currently underway at Invalides!

It’s Arab Ameri who grabs the lead after Set 1 ends 26-25 in his favour. Can Harvinder fight back in Set 2?

Harvinder Singh faces Iran’s Mohammad Reza Arab Ameri in the men’s individual recurve open semi-finals. A victory here will ensure he upgrades his Tokyo 2020 bronze to a gold or a silver.

A defeat however, will not be the end of the road for him — he can still fight for a second consecutive bronze.

The contest will begin in 10 minutes.

Sakina Khatun finishes a disappointing seventh with just one successful lift measuring 86kg out of three. She had listed 90 and 92kg for her second and third attempts, but had a no-lift in both.

China’s Guo Lingling, meanwhile, smashes the world record with a lift of 123kg — 14 kilos heavier than silver medallist Zoe Newson.

Harvinder Singh advances to the men’s individual recurve open semi-finals!

He defeats Colombia’s Hector Julio Ramirez 6-2 in the quarter-final clash, and is now one win away from confirming a second consecutive Paralympic medal!

The third set ends in a 27-all tie, before Harvinder seals victory by finishing marginally ahead of the Colombian (26-25). Harvinder had begun with a 9 in Set 4, which was followed by 7, which put Ramirez ahead.

The Indian, however, regained his composure in time to hit 10 in his third arrow, with his opponent hitting an 8, and sealed his victory in the process.

Harvinder’s quarter-final clash against Ramirez is currently underway!

The first set ends in a 1-1 tie, with both competitors registering a score of 25 each. Harvinder, however, surges ahead in Set 2, winning it 28-24.

Sakina has listed 92kg for her third and final attempt, which should give her a seventh-place finish at best given five competitors have crossed the century mark and the sixth-placed Kabyl successfully lifted 95kg in her second attempt.

China’s Lingling currently leads the pack with a 118kg lift in her second attempt and has listed 122kg for her final attempt. She is set to win gold as Turkiye’s Muratli has listed 108kg for her final attempt after lifting 107kg in her second try.

Another 10 minutes to go before Harvinder Singh is in action in the men’s individual recurve open quarter-finals, where he faces Colombia’s Hector Julio Ramirez.

Can he inch a step closer to a second consecutive Paralympic medal with a victory over Ramirez? Stay tuned to find out.

it’s a no-lift for Sakina in her second attempt, in which she goes for a 90kg lift, but is unable to do so.

Kazakhstan’s Tursynay Kabyl similarly had a no lift while going for 95kg in her first attempt. Algeria’s Guerioua to failed to cleanly lift 91kg in her second attempt.

Sakina, who currently lies at the seventh spot, will have one more shot at lifting 90kg in her third attempt, but that won’t get her anywhere close to the medal positions as the top four have lifted weights in excess of 100 kg.

After briefly occupying the top spot, Sakina slips to sixth as China’s Guo Lingling (113kg), Turkey’s Nazmiye Muratli (104kg), Britain’s Zoe Newson (102kg), Morocco’s Wafae El Azzab (100kg) lift in excess of 100 kilos each and Poland’s Justyna Kozdryk successfully lifts 95kg.

Sakina successfully lifts 86kg to move to the No 1 spot for now. Her second lift is listed at 90kg.

She lets out quite the roar after lifting the barbell from her chest and holding her pose for the judges.

Right then, the final is underway and first in action is Argentina’s Lourdes Maciel, who lifts 81kg in her first attempt, and is followed by Algeria’s Samira Guerioua, who moves to the top with an 85kg lift.

India’s Sakina Khatun is next and she has listed 86kg for her first lift.

The next Indian in action is Sakina Khatun, who will be competing in the women’s powerlifting final in the ‘up to 45kg’ category 15 minutes from now.

Can she win India’s second track and field medal of the day and 12th overall in the Paris Games? Stay tuned to find out.

Harvinder Singh will face Colombia’s Hector Julio Ramirez in the quarter-finals at 9.17 pm IST.

Ramirez defeated France’s Guillaume Toucoullet 6-4. The Colombian was leading 4-0 after winning the first two sets before the Frenchman, buoyed by home support at Invalides in the French capital.

Ramirez, however, won the fifth set 28-26 with a 10 and two 9s to setup a quarter-final meeting with Harvinder.

Harvinder Singh advances to the quarter-finals, and is a couple of wins away from winning a second consecutive Paralympic medal!

He shoots a 10 in his second arrow with a 9 on the other side while Setiawan’s challenge ends on a disappointing note as he starts the fourth set with a 9, but fouls in the next one before ending with a 6.

Harvinder thus completes a 6-2 victory by winning the fourth set 28-15.

For the second set in a row, Harvinder starts off with a 10 and follows it up with a couple of 9s.

Setiawan does slightly better in this set, but still ends up a point short as the Indian wins 28-27 to go 4-2 up.

Harvinder fights back in Set 2 with a score of 28-25 to go level on two points with the Indonesia. The Indian starts off with a 10 and follows it up with a couple of 9s. Setiawan, on the other hand, starts off with a 7 before shooting 9 with his next two arrows.

The next set could be crucial as far as the fate of this Round of 16 contest is concerned.

Harvinder Singh’s men’s individual recurve last-16 clash against Indonesia’s Setiawan is underway!

Setiawan wins the opening set 28-27 and goes 2-0 up in the contest! Can Harvinder bounce back?

Harvinder’s opponent is decided — he will be taking on Indonesia’s Setiawan, who defeated Iran’s Gholamreza Rahimi.

The Round of 16 fixture will be starting in another 10 minutes.

Harvinder’s Round of 16 match will take place at 6.40 pm IST, less than half-an-hour from now. His opponent for the next round, however, is yet to be determined.

Should he win that encounter as well, he will be in action at 9.17 pm next during the quarter-finals.

Harvinder Singh’s quest to win back-to-back Paralympic medals is alive and kicking with the Indian defeating Chinese Taipei’s 65-year-old para-archer Tseng Lung-Hui 7-3.

While the wheelchair-bound Tseng fights back in Set 3, collecting two points with a score of 29-26, Harvinder wins the next two 24-23 and 25-17 to win the Round of 32 clash 7-3 and advance to the next round.