Tokyo Paralympics: Archer Rakesh Kumar enters quarter-finals after beating Marian Marecak

Update: Rakesh Kumar lost to former world champion Xinliang Ai of China in a close quarterfinal match. 

Indian archer Rakesh Kumar won against Marian Marecak of Slovakia on Tuesday to enter the quarterfinals. He won the tie with a score of 140-137 as he won his 1/8 elimination match of men's individual compound event at the ongoing Tokyo Paralympics. After winning this close encounter, Rakesh will now have a chance to book his place in the semi-finals and move a step closer in securing a medal for India. The semi-final of the showcase event will be held later on Tuesday.

Rakesh started off badly and was losing the game as he had only managed a cumulative score of 53. However, the Indian archer fought back strongly to have a slight advantage of 81-80. He was in fine form by then and shot brilliantly in the last two rounds to win the game. Earlier in the Paralympic games, Rakesh defeated Hong Kong's Ngai Ka Chuen by a score of 144-131 to win his round of sixteen fixture. Indian archer, Shyam Sundar, failed to win against his American opponent Matt Stutzman and lost the fixture by a score of 139-142 in the individual compound open 1/16 elimination round on Saturday.

Historic day at the games for India

Yesterday was a historic day for India as the nation ran a riot at the Tokyo Paralympics. In an hour at the games, India collected five medals which included two gold, two silver and a bronze medal. With these, India’s overall tally reached seven, their highest ever at a Paralympic game. Before yesterday, India’s best-ever tally was of 4 medals, which the athletes brought home in the Rio games of 2016 and the New York games of 1984. In fact, in that one hour of total domination, India won more medals than they have ever done in a single Paralympic.

It began with Avani Lekhara’s gold medal in the women's 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1 final and became the first Indian woman to win a Paralympic gold medal in the country's history. It was followed by a silver medal by Yogesth Kathuniya in the Men's Discus F56 event and Devendra Jhajharia won a silver medal in Men's Javelin F46 event. Sundar Singh won the bronze in the same event. Sumit Antil then broke the world record to win another gold in India's tally.

(With ANI inputs)