Archer Rakesh Kumar advances to round of 16 at the Tokyo Paralympics
Rakesh started with a personal best of 10, 10, 9 shots in the qualifying rounds, and took a 29-27 lead after the first three arrows.
NEW DELHI — Archer Rakesh Kumar of India won his 1/16 elimination match of the men’s individual compound event at the current Tokyo Paralympics on Saturday, defeating Hong Kong’s Ngai Ka Chuen 144-131.
The archer has moved to the next round of the Paralympics with this victory.
Rakesh began with 10, 10, 9 shots, breaking his personal best in the qualifying rounds, and seized a 29-27 lead after the first three arrows.
Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games:
Para-Archer Rakesh Kumar defeated Chuen K Ngai by 144-131 in compound open 1/16 Elimination match to advance to the next round. Kumar will play his 1/8 elimination round on 31 August.#Cheer4India #Paralympics pic.twitter.com/FYxcmyKgZj— DD India (@DDIndialive) August 28, 2021
Archer Rakesh Kumar achieves lifetime best score
In the second and third, he maintained his excellent form and did not allow Ngai Ka Chuen to catch up to him. The Indian archer maintained his lead in round three, finishing with a score of 87-79.
He launched arrows with pinpoint accuracy in the final minutes to seal the match with a score of 144-131.
Archer Rakesh Kumar set a lifetime best of 699 points out of 720 in his 72 arrows on Friday, scoring 53 10s and 17 X’s.
Para archer Shyam Sundar loses to Matt Stutzman
Meanwhile, Para archer Shyam Sundar lost 139-142 to Matt Stutzman of the United States in the individual compound open 1/16 elimination round earlier in the day.
While the Indian archer gave it his all near the end of the match while trailing, Stutzman finished the job in style to seal the victory.
In the men’s individual archery ranking round, Shyam Sundar came in 21st place. In the field, the Indian archer finished with a season-high of 682 points.
Paddler Bhavinaben Patel qualifies for the finals
On the other hand, Bhavinaben Patel made history by reaching the final of the women’s singles class 4 table tennis event Aafter defeating world no. 3 China’s Miao Zhang on Saturday at the Tokyo Paralympics. On Sunday, Bhavaniben will compete for the gold medal.
In the women’s singles Class 4 event, Bhavinaben had advanced to the semifinals with a surprise straight-game victory over world number two and defending champion Borislava Peric Rankovic of Serbia.
