Archer Harvinder clinches historic gold in Paralympics

TOKYO Games bronze-winner Harvinder Singh became the first Indian archer to win a gold medal at the Paralympics, beating Poland's Lukasz Ciszek in a lop-sided final on Wednesday.

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The 33-year-old Indian, who lost to Kevin Mather of the USA in the Tokyo Paralympics semifinals before securing a bronze three years ago, put up a dominant show to knock out Ciszek 6-0 (28-24, 28-27, 29-25).

Harvinder, who is pursuing Ph.D in Economics, won five back-to-back matches in a single day, showing neither fatigue nor nerves to etch his name in history and clinch India's second medal in archery here. Both his legs are impaired owing to the side effects of dengue treatment that he underwent as a toddler.

Silver for Shot-putter Khilari

World hampion Sachin Sarjerao Khilari clinched a silver in men's shot put F46 event with an Asian record distance of 16.32m as the country's track-and-field athletes continued their unprecposition. "I had wanted to win the gold medal, but it did not happen. It's my best distance but I am not satisfied. I feel I could have done better. It was not my day," Khilari said after winning the silver medal.