Tokyo: Archer Harvinder Singh stormed into the pre-quarterfinals of the Men’s Individual Recurve Open by beating Italian Stefano Travisani 6-5 via a shootout in a 1/16 Elimination duel at the Tokyo Paralympic Games here on Friday.
Harvinder, who bagged a gold medal at the Asian Para Games in Jakarta, Indonesia in 2018, won the first two sets and taken a 4-0 lead, claiming them 27-24 and 26-22, when his Italian opponent came back strongly to take the third set 27-26 at the Yumenoshima Ranking Field.
The duo bagged a point each (25-25) and the score was still in Harvinder’s favour 5-3. However, Harvinder could manage only 8, 7, and 10 points on his final three arrows as Travisani won the fifth set 27-25 with three 9s as he tied the set scores 5-5 and took the match into a single-arrow shootout.
In the shootout, Harvinder, the 30-year-old with a doctorate in economics from Punjabi University, Patiala, shot a 10 while Travisani could manage only 7.
Harvinder thus set up a pre-quarterfinal encounter with the Russian Paralympic Committee’s (RPC) Bato Tsydendorzhiev later in the day.
Harvinder, considered by experts in para archery as a bright prospect after his victory in the Asian Para Games in Jakarta, was placed 21st after the ranking round held on August 27.
