File photo of Simran Sharma.© X (formerly Twitter)
India para-athletes Simran Sharma and Ashok failed to seal their spot at the podium and saw their Paris Paralympics campaign conclude on a heartbreaking note. Simran stormed into the women’s 100m T12 final without breaking a sweat. But she was ousted by her opponents and finished last of the four finalists in the event with a timing of 12.31s. Cuba’s Omara Durand Elias, the world record-holder, struck gold with a timing of 11.81s. Ukraine’s Oksana Boturchuk finished behind Elias with a timing of 12.17s. Germany’s Katrin Mueller-Rottgardt settled for the bronze medal after clocking 12.26s.
Meanwhile, powerlifter Ashok, who was also competing for a medal in the men’s 65kg final, saw his campaign conclude in the sixth position.
He kicked off the proceedings by successfully lifting 196kg in his first attempt. He continued to ride high on the momentum, lifted 199kg, and raised hopes of a possible medal.
But in the third attempt, he went for glory by trying to lift 206kg in the third and final round. But it turned out to be too much for him, and he registered an invalid attempt. His best effort remained at 199kg from the second round.
China’s Yi Zou, with a successful lift of 215kg bagged the gold. Great Britain’s Mark Swan got his hands on silver after successfully lifting 213kg. Alegira’s Hocine Bettir settled for a bronze medal with a lift of 209kg.
Before Simran and Ashok’s shortcoming, India saw hope for another medal go in vain after para-archery duo Harvinder Singh and Pooja fell short in the bronze medal tie against Slovenia’s Ziva Lavrinc and Dejan Fabcic in the mixed team recurve open.
Despite the duo’s inability to add another medal to India’s record-breaking medal tally at the Paralympics, it was still a historic performance by the Indian para-archers.
This was the first time in the history of the Paralympics that the Indian para archery team won two medals, one gold and one bronze, in the marquee event. Harvinder got his hands on India’s first-ever gold medal in para archery at the Paralympics. In a one-sided final, Harvinder on Wednesday ousted Poland’s Lukasz Ciszek with a straight-set win, 6-0.
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