India’s para-archer Rakesh Kumar reached the quarterfinals of the Men’s Individual Compound Open in the ongoing Paralympics through a very interesting shoot-off. World No. 1 Rakesh Kumar defeated World No. 2 Indonesian archer Ken Swagumilang in a shoot-off to secure his place in the quarterfinals.
Rakesh Kumar’s match at the Paralympics
Rakesh Kumar started well in the first end, shooting 9, 10, 10 to make it 29. On the other side, Ken Swagumilang scored a perfect 30 with two bullseyes. The match continued, and in the second end, Rakesh scored three 10s, taking the lead, while Ken scored 29.
The third end saw Rakesh score 9, 10, 10, and Ken followed with the same score of 29 with 10, 10, 9. The lead continued for Rakesh in the fourth end, where he scored 29 with 10, 9, 10. Meanwhile, the Indonesian archer could not take the lead, as he also scored 9, 10, 10. The score after the four rounds was 117-116.
The thrilling final round
In the final round, both Rakesh and Ken started with a 9. Then, Rakesh scored a 10, and Ken followed with another 10. Rakesh needed a 10 to win but scored an 8. Ken clutched and scored a 10, tying the scores at 144-144. This led to a shootoff between the two.
The shootoff saga
As the match went into the shoot-off, the tables turned. Rakesh scored a solid 10, while Ken only managed to score an 8. It was surprising from both, as they had each only scored an 8 once before, and it came at this crucial moment.
Rakesh Advances to the quarterfinals
Rakesh Kumar’s quarterfinal will take place at 9:15 pm IST. His opponent will be decided shortly
