Paris Paralympics 2024: World No. 1 Archer Rakesh Kumar Defeats Ken Swagumilang In Shoot-Off

World No 1 archer Rakesh Kumar overcame a blip in his final arrow to defeat Ken Swagumilang of Indonesia in the shoot-off and enter his second successive Paralympics quarterfinals in the compound men open category, here on Sunday.

In a battle between the top-two world ranked archers, Rakesh held his slender one-point lead and needed a 9-point shot to seal the issue in five ends.

But he slipped to the 8-pointer red-ring as both the archers were locked 144-144 in the regulation five ends, consisting 15 arrows.

In the ensuing shoot-off, the 39-year-old veteran, who made a quarterfinal exit in the Tokyo Paralympics, held his nerve to shoot a perfect 10, while Ken managed an 8.

Rakesh will face the winner of Canada’s Kyle Tremblay and Austria’s Meier in the quarters.

Rakesh started on the backfoot with Ken pulling off a perfect first end shooting 30 out of 30, while the Indian dropped a point.

Rakesh bounced back to drill in three 10s, while Ken managed 28 to take a one-point lead.

The third and fourth ends saw both the archers dropping a point each as Rakesh maintained his slender lead before the slip-up in his final arrow of the designated five ends.

The Jammu man had won gold medal in individual and mixed team events of the Asian Para Championships last year.

He also bagged the mixed team gold medal at the World Para Championships.

Rakesh suffered a spinal cord injury and after recovering in 2009 he realised that he would be wheelchair-bound for life. It pushed him into depression and even thought of taking the extreme step.

His life took a new turn after meeting his archery coach Kuldeep Vedwan as the duo began their stint together at the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board in Katra.

(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – PTI)