Paris, September 2 (HS). Rakesh Kumar faced a heartbreaking end in a thrilling finale of the men's para archery individual compound open bronze medal match on Monday (Indian time) at the Paris Paralympics 2024.
Kumar missed out on the bronze medal, finishing just one point behind China's He Zihao with a score of 146-147. Despite the close loss, Kumar's fourth-place finish is the highest ever by an Indian compound archer in Paralympic history.
Earlier in the competition, Kumar defeated world number 2 Ken Swagumilang of Indonesia in the round of 16 and Kyle Tremblay of Canada in the quarterfinals.
However, he lost to China's Ai Xinliang in the semi-finals. India has so far won a total of seven medals with one gold, two silver and four bronze in the ongoing Paris Paralympics.
On Monday, Nishad Kumar also won a silver medal in the men's high jump T47. On Sunday, Indian parasprinter Preeti Pal won a bronze medal in the 200m T35 with a timing of 30.01 seconds. With this medal, Preeti created history as she became the first Indian female athlete to win 2 medals in a track and field event at the Paralympics or Olympics. Earlier, Preeti finished third in the T35 100m race with a timing of 14.21 seconds and won a bronze medal, which is also her personal best time.