Para-archer Rakesh Kumar’s journey in the Men’s Individual Compound Open has come to a sad end for he lost to Chinese representative Ai Xinliang in the quarterfinal round at the Tokyo Paralympic Games today. The final score ended up being 143-145 in favour of Ai in the quarterfinal match. This ends India’s campaign in the compound archery category of the Tokyo Paralympic Games.
Rakesh Kumar did not lose without giving a fight to the Chinese para-archer and it led to a very high-intensity encounter between these two. The Chinese archer had ended up being sixth in the initial ranking rounds while the Indian para-archer finished third in that round. He started proceedings with an attempt in the inner 10 (X) and then hit on a 10 and 9 for 29 points with the Chinese para-archer coming up with a perfect 30 off his first three arrows. Kumar replied with a 9,9 and 10 in the next series of shots. Ai Xinliang conjured up a 10,10 and a 9 to extend the lead by over 2 points with the scores being 59-57. Rajesh made aanX, 9 and 10 which reduced the lead between him and his opponent who hit 9,9 and 10 with the scores being 87-86. Ai hit two nines and an X in reply to the earlier series and he increased his lead again by two points with him hitting X,9 and 10 in his series of arrows.
In the final series, the Indian para-archer not only had to achieve a perfect score but also hope that the Chinese representative falters in this round. This didn’t end up happening as both got 29 points in this round. Ai Xinliang ended up winning the quarter-final match by a narrow two points with the final score being 145-143.
This marks the end of India’s campaign in the Compound Archery section of the Tokyo Paralympics. Other Indian para archers such as Shyam Sundar Swamy in the Men’s section and Jyoti Baliyan in Women’s Individual Open section were already knocked out in the pre-quarter-final rounds. Rakesh and Jyoti Balian also were knocked out in their quarterfinal match in the Mixed Team Compound Open category.