Paris Paralympics 2024 Para-Archery: Pooja-Harvinder lose bronze medal match against Slovenia in mixed team recurve event
The Indian mixed team of Pooja Jatyan and Harvinder Singh lost against Slovenia in the Paris Paralympics 2024 para-archery recurve bronze medal match on Thursday.
Team India, in the hunt for the second para-archery mixed team medal after a bronze medal in the compound event, lost to Slovenia by a scoreline of 4-5.
The event began in a muted way for both teams, with both sets of para-archers struggling to score 9* and 10* pointers in the first two sets, showing pressure due to the grandiosity of the event.
However, a 10* from Paris Paralympics 2024 para-archery gold medalist Harvinder Singh in the opening shot of the third set kicked things off in the match. Pooja Jatyan responded with a 9* and 10* of her own, mounting a strong Indian challenge for the bronze medal.
However, the Slovenian team of Ziva Lavrinc and Dejan Fabcic failed to respond in kind and despite opening with a 10*, they failed to make most of the remaining shots with scores below 8*.
As India looked set to claim another bronze medal in their already-successful Paris Paralympics 2024 para-archery campaign, Pooja completely failed to rise to the occasion in the final set with two poor arrows, scoring 5* and 7*.
The Slovenian mixed team took advantage of the Indian para-archer’s slip-up, scoring a 9* and a 10* to tie the match up.
In the ensuing shoot-off, the Indian team scored 8* and 9* in their two arrows, but the Slovenians emerged victorious after scoring 9* and 10*.
How did Team India fare at the Paris Paralympics 2024 Para-Archery Mixed Team Recurve event?
Harvinder Singh and Pooja Jatyan began their mixed team recurve event in the perfect manner, defeating the Australian team of Amanda Jennings and Taymon Kenton-Smith by a scoreline of 5-4.
In the ensuing quarter-final match, the Indian mixed archery team completely outplayed the Polish team of Milena Olszewska and Lukasz Ciszek, winning with a scoreline of 6-0.
However, the Indian team’s luck ran out in the semi-final when it faced the mighty Italian team, losing the bout 6-2 to set up the bronze medal playoff match against Slovenia.
However, after failing to win the bronze medal match, the Indian mixed recurve team will end their Paris Paralympics 2024 campaign empty-handed.