Dubai, (Samajweekly) Tokyo 2020 Paralympic bronze medallist Harvinder Singh kicked off his campaign at the Dubai 2022 World Archery Para Championships on a good note entering the second round of the recurve men’s individual open here on Thursday.
Singh, who was seeded 11th after the ranking round, got a bye in the first round and will face Spain’s Jose Manuel Marin Rodriguez, 22nd ranked. In the qualifying, Harvinder however took time to be in his usual form, finding more 10+Xs and Xs only in his second set of 6 as he totalled 609.
Compatriot Rajesh, qualifying 25th, too made it to Round 2 defeating Thailand’s Sukkun Phet 6-2 in first round.
“It wasn’t a very good start as I expected. I was expecting to be in the top 10 in the ranking round. I took time to get into the groove. But I hope I can overcome that and get a good result here,” said the archer from Ajitnagar, Punjab.
In the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, the archer was ranked 21st before he climbed the ladder to take the bronze medal. “So, actually it doesn’t matter to me much. I will have to focus on my shooting.”
Harvinder will also play the recurve mixed team and recurve men’s doubles, where India have qualified fifth and seventh, respectively.
“I feel confident of a medal in the mixed team event. Pooja and I have been teaming up for the last couple of years and we have a good balanced team,” added Harvinder.
Meanwhile, the recurve women’s archers also had a good day with Pooja (598) and Pooja Khanna (544) qualifying in the fourth and 13th places respectively. She will also play the recurve women’s doubles along with Khanna, where the pair has qualified second.
In wheelchair W1 men category, Adil Mohamed Nazir Ansari qualified in eighth place with 639 score.
National coach Kuldeep Kumar was happy that the archers were able to shoot according to the plans. “The objective is to be in the present and follow the shooting process.”
All the Team elimination rounds will be played on Friday, with India’s compound archers Shyam Sundar Swami and Jyoti Baliyan to be in action in the Compound Mixed Team finals.
