Indian para compound archer and world no.1 Rakesh Kumar finished in fourth place men’s compound archery open event at the Paris Paralympics 2024, on Sunday.
Both his semi-finals and bronze medal match defeats came in the hands of China, Ai Xinliang defeating him in the semis and later, He Zihao in the bronze medal match.
Agony for Rakesh 😢
A spectacular score of 146 was not enough for the world no. 1 para archer Rakesh Kumar as he falls short by 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁 in the bronze medal match to defensive #Paralympics champion He Zihao 🎯
Another close miss for India at #Paralympics2024… pic.twitter.com/Bn6jfw1xjS
— The Bridge (@the_bridge_in) September 1, 2024
Rakesh opened his day against world no.2 Ken Swagumilang and at the end of four rounds, the Indian was in control of the match, and heading into the final arrow, he needed a 9 or a 10 to take the game.
But to everyone’s surprise, Rakesh hit an eight and the match went into a shoot-off. The Indian kept his composure in the shoot-off, hitting a 10 while the Indonesian could only manage an 8!
The quarter-finals against Kyle Strembly, the world no.9 was just as close as his round of 16 tie.
After trailing for the first three rounds, Rakesh turned things around in the fourth and got a lead of one point. But Kyle fought back brilliantly and took it to the shoot-off once again.
Although Kyle hit a 10 in his shoot-off arrow, Rakesh brilliantly hit the bullseye in his arrow and proceeded to the semis, where he was to face China’s Ai Xinliang.
Unlike the previous two encounters, the Chinese did not mess about at all. He took the lead in the first round with a 30/30 and kept up with it all match long.
He hit a total of ten 10s in his 15 arrows, whereas Rakesh could only manage eight 10s and eventually lost the semis 143-145.
In his bronze medal match, facing He Zihao, Rakesh fought valiantly and despite getting 146/150 from his 15 arrows, the Chinese edged past him by one point, scoring 147.
Rakesh Kumar will feature in the mixed team event tomorrow, teaming up with Sheetal Devi.