India entered the recent edition of the Paralympics in Paris with high optimism and positive energy when it came to the sport of archery.
While Sheetal Devi, India’s first armless archer, and Rakesh Kumar justified that excitement by clinching a bronze medal in the mixed team compound open event on September 2, no one could have predicted the manner in which Harvinder Singh would bag a historic gold medal in the men’s individual recurve open category at the Esplanade des Invalides two days later.
Three years after clinching India’s first-ever Paralympic medal in archery - a bronze in Tokyo - the 33-year-old Singh went all the way in Paris and won gold in the most dominant fashion - a 6-0 victory over Poland’s Lukasz Ciszek in the final.
Harvinder, who hails from a middle-class farming family in Kaithal, a remote village in Haryana, had dengue when he was just one-and-half years old and a local doctor administered him an injection that had an adverse effect and his left leg stopped working properly.
In an exclusive chat with Sportstar, Singh, who is also pursuing a PhD in Economics (Labour reforms in Punjab) from the Punjabi University, reflects on his campaign in Paris and the preparation that went into producing a memorable performance. Excerpts:
Q: Let’s start from the end. How was the first conversation with your family after the historic gold medal?
Actually, I really wanted to speak to my family after reaching the final since the medal had been assured and they must have been so happy but I also had to make sure that my focus remained on the summit clash. Moments after winning the final and completing a few formalities, I spoke with my family through another phone since I did not want to switch-on my own device. I had the mixed team matches the next day.
I had a video call with my wife, Manpreet, and father, Paramjit, and they were really happy. My father got really emotional and told me, “I am proud of you, beta.” What more can a son ask for?
I do miss my mother, Harbhajan Kaur, who passed away in 2018 due to a heart attack, especially in moments like these when you have achieved something. You do feel the absence of your beloved family member but accepting the reality is what maturity is about. She is always there in my memories and thoughts whenever I win a medal and her blessings are always there with me.
Q: You got married after the Paralympics in Tokyo and have a son now. How has that changed your life as an athlete?
I got engaged before Tokyo. Now, the destinies of my wife and child are also attached to me. Their prayers are with me. Also, you are mentally at peace as along with a care-taker, my wife too is there to look after my father who has a few health issues. My son keeps him busy. Another thing is that there are more people to celebrate with you in your happy moments.
Q: Coming to your performance at the Paralympics. In Tokyo, you had very close matches - three went to shoot-offs. In Paris, there was not even one. Was there a conscious effort this time to avoid shoot-offs?
Shoot-offs bring a lot of pressure. My aim was not to let things go down to the wire and try to finish the match as soon as possible. I managed to achieve this in the final which I won 6-0. A matter of a few millimeters can decide the winner in the shoot-off and obviously, there is a lot of pressure. Even though I had experience of handling shoot-offs, it was better not to get into those situations. This was my thought process. This is how I practised and I was able to apply that in the tournament.
Q: Did you follow the archery team’s performance at the Olympics? Did close defeats and heartbreaks from those matches and the fact that Rakesh Kumar finished fourth in the men’s individual compound open in Paralympics play a role in this mentality of yours to avoid tense finishes?
I did follow the Olympics and what I learned from the matches I watched was to finish the set with a 10. It does not matter if you have two 10s or a 10 and an 8. The third arrow is the decider. It would either be a ‘10 to win’ or a ‘10 to tie.’ I focused on finishing the set with a 10 during my practice sessions and I did find success in this during the quarterfinals, semifinals and the final.
Q: After Tokyo, you did win a bronze medal in men’s doubles at the Hangzhou Asian Games but in terms of individual category, there was a little bit of inconsistency. In the ranking round in Paris, you finished ninth and you mentioned (in an interview with World Archery) that you felt a bit under-confident since you expected better from yourself. Did it help that there was a gap between the ranking round (held on August 29) and the elimination stage (held on September 4)?
We had been training in Champagne, which is about 100 km away from Paris, for 15 days. I was shooting better than the world record during my practice sessions under good weather conditions there. However, when we arrived in Paris, my scores took a hit. In the ranking round, I shot 637 when I expected something above 650. I was disappointed but my experience told me that in the larger context, ranking did not matter. In Tokyo, I finished 21st in the ranking round and won a bronze (USA’s Kevin Mather, who was 17th, grabbed the gold). The five-day gap really helped. The daily practice sessions of two to two-and-a-half hours allowed me to plan my strategy for the elimination stage.
Q: Do you believe in luck? In your first match against Chinese Taipei’s Tseng Lung-Hui, you started well but there was a point where he needed an 8 to win the fourth set but instead, he hit a 6.. When your opponent makes such a mistake, do you ever feel like ‘Today is my day and I can’t let this chance go’?
I don’t believe solely in luck. Hard work and luck both go together.
Archery is an unpredictable sport. For example, in my matches, I needed a 10 to win and I got it. In the semifinal, I needed an 8 to seal the victory and I got an 8. The players feel a lot of pressure and it also leads to completely missing the target at times. Both my opponents in the first two rounds missed the target once. I have also seen instances where someone needs a 9 to win and they end up with an 8, handing over the victory to the opponent. It is due to the pressure of the situation.
ALSO READ | Sumit Antil eyes historic three-peat at LA 2028 after retaining Paralympic javelin crown
In the bronze medal match in the mixed team event, our opponents hit two 10s (actually, a 9 and a 10) in the shoot-off. The same players had hit a 5 and a 10 in the shoot-off in the semifinals. So, the archers should not lose hope till their last arrow. They should believe in their hard work and luck too since the sport is so unpredictable.
Q: In your first match, you had just one shot of 10. After that, in every match, you had at least three 10s. In quarterfinals and semifinals, all 10s came in the final arrows of the sets. Did something change after the first match?
Firstly, I had never played in front of so many people. Even in Tokyo, there were no spectators. Also, most of our competitions take place on the ground level. So, I was not used to shooting from a podium. I did feel that pressure in the first match. I somehow got through it and I feel I should have finished it earlier than when it actually did.
After that match, I was psychologically prepared for the podium, the audience and its reactions after every shot and took it positively.
Q: From the high of winning a gold in the individual event, you, along with Pooja Jatyan, had that unfortunate fourth-place finish in the mixed team event the next day….
I had a few interviews and formalities till late night when I won gold in the individual event but I knew that I had another event the next day. So, I did not switch my mobile phone on in order to stay focused. Our first two matches took place when it was raining. After losing the semifinal, we don’t want to leave without a medal. Personally, it would have been a historic achievement to win two Paralympic medals in the same edition.
Paris Paralympics: Pooja Jatyan (front) and Harvinder Singh (back) in action during the Mixed Team Recurve Open Bronze Medal Match at Esplanade Des Invalides on September 05, 2024. | Photo Credit: GETTY IMAGES
Both of us were trying to guide each other but Pooja, who had only won a World Championship medal in 2022, was feeling a lot of pressure. Unfortunately, we lost the match to Slovenia in the shoot-off. I had won gold a day before but more than that, I was disappointed because my partner in the mixed team category was returning home without a medal. It took some time to overcome that disappointment but we are determined to do better next time.
Q: Para Archery is a whole different challenge altogether since you have certain physical limitations. In your case, how do you manage your body balance and your heart rate?
Physical strength is the key. Limitations are the reason for lower scores in para archery. These limitations do not allow us to use heavy poundage (the force required to pull the bowstring back to its maximum length). I have a problem with my body balance as my weight is more on the right leg.
As soon as I shoot an arrow, I go into rest mode and my body weight is entirely on my right leg. When the arrow is in position, then I put weight on both legs and shoot.
Running is the best practice for managing the heartbeat but para archers like me can’t do it. So, we focus on meditation and try to imagine the match pressure and it helps us. While the matches in the compound categories were going on in Paris, I sat in the upper stands and visualized my own upcoming competition.
Q: How did sports science help in improving your performance post Tokyo?
About six months ago, SAI Sonipat invited Korean coach Kim Hyung Tak who brought a software with him for video analysis. That helped both the Olympic and the Paralympic archers. He also made minor changes to my shooting technique. He gave some instructions to my coaches Jiwanjot Singh Teja and Gaurav Sharma.
Jiwanjot Sir, who is my mentor and taught me the basics of the sport, had shifted abroad a few years ago. However, after my bronze medal in Tokyo, he received the Dronacharya Award in 2022 and he came back to India. He is at SAI Sonipat and training under both him and Gaurav Sharma Sir helped me prepare for Paris.
Comments
SHARE