Paralympic archery: Rakesh Kumar in pre-quarters, Swami exits

India continued to have a mixed day at the Tokyo Paralympic Games archery competition as Rakesh Kumar made it to the pre-quarterfinals while Shyam Sundar Swami crashed out of the Men's Individual Compound Open.

Kumar, the 35-year-old from Katra near Jammu, defeated Hong Kong's Ka Chuen Ngai while Swami went down to Matt Stutzman of the United States in the 1/16 Elimination round.

Kumar, who was placed third after the 72-arrow ranking round, continued with his superb run by outclassing Chunen Ka Ngai of Hong Kong 144-131 in the 1/16 Elimination Round at the Yumenoshima Final Field on Saturday.

Kumar got off to a superb start as he shot 29 (10, 10,9) out of a possible 30 in the first three arrows (called end in archery), opening up a two-point lead as Ngai could manage only 9, 10, 8.

He shot a 10 and an inner 10 (X) and a nine in the second end with Ngai managing a poor 25 with two 8s and a nine.

Kumar continued in the same vein as he shot 29, 28, and 29 in the next three rounds for a total score of 144 out of 150. Ngai's game went downhill as he shot a 27, 24, and 28 in the last three rounds for a total of 131.

Swami gave Stutzman a tough fight as he lost 139-142.

The 24-year-old Swami, who had lost to Kumar in the final of the FAZZA World Para Archery Ranking Tournament in February this year, started with 27 and conceded a point lead to the American who shot 28. the Indian levelled the scores at 55-55 when he shot an arrow in the inner 10 for 28 while Stutzman managed three 9s.

Swami again fell behind by a point after the third end, shooting 28 as against 29 by his rival. He managed another 28 in the fourth round but Stutzman shot a perfect 30 to open up a three-point lead. Swami could not bridge the gap in the fifth and final round of three arrows as both players tallied an identical 28.

Kumar will now take on Marian Marecak of Slovakia in the pre-quarterfinals on Tuesday (Aug 31).

On Sunday, he will figure in the Mixed Team Compound Open pre-quarterfinals along with Jyoti Baliyan. India will take on Thailand for a place in the quarterfinals.