Paris Paralympics: Strategy was to put pressure from the start, says gold medallist archer Harvinder Singh 

Paris, Sep 6 (IANS) As he got ready to shoot his first arrow in the Men's Recurve Individual Open in the ongoing Paris Paralympics on Wednesday, India's Harvinder Singh had decided to go all out and create pressure from the start itself. His strategy proved successful as Harvinder scripted history by winning a gold medal, becoming the first Indian para-archer to bag the top honours in the sport in the quadrennial spectacle. 

Harvinder, who clinched India's first archery medal in the Tokyo Paralympics, changed the colour of his medal with an emphatic 6-0 win over his Polish opponent Lukasz Ciszek at the Invalides. When asked about his mindset during the gold medal match, the 33-year-old said he was focused on winning the gold and went with the strategy of taking the lead early to get relieved of the pressure.

"I was extremely happy when I reached the final as it confirmed India's one medal but I realised that I can't accept anything less than gold and I would not be satisfied with silver. During that time you can't make any mistakes and I had discussed it with my coach. You have to be mentally focused for the pressure match. For the final match, my strategy was to put pressure from the start," Harvinder told IANS during a virtual interaction.

"The thought was if I win the match in straight sets then there will be less pressure on me. I have seen athletes faltering in the end after taking a lead so my focus was not to give any chance to the opponent. For me, It was important to hit each arrow perfectly as one arrow can change the result of the match," he added.

Sharing about his preparations for the Paris Paralympics, Harvinder said he had trained for the pressure matches which helped him seal consecutive Paralympic medals.

"Before the Olympics, during match practice, my coach trained me by setting a target of 29 to win and 28 to tie. That practice definitely helped me in the matches," he said.

The para-archer, originally from Ajit Nagar village in Haryana's Kaithal district, belongs to a farmer family. He faced adversity at a young age, when he was just one and a half years old, he contracted dengue and required injections for treatment. Unfortunately, the side effects of those injections led to the loss of function in his legs. Despite this setback, he discovered a passion for archery while watching the London Paralympics in 2012.

Recognising his talent, his coach guided him to make his debut at the Para Archery World Championship in 2017, where he finished seventh. In 2018, he achieved further success by winning a gold medal at the Jakarta Asian Para Games.

During the lockdown, his father supported his ambitions by converting their farm into an archery range. Alongside his sporting achievements, Harvinder is also pursuing a PhD in Economics from Punjabi University, Patiala.