Day 3 wasn’t quite as eventful for the Indian contingent in terms of medals as the second day was, but was definitely an improvement from Day 1.
After the euphoria of winning four medals on the second day including three in shooting, there was hope of the nation winning multiple medals the following day as well.
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A solitary medal is all the Indian contingent could afford in the end, with the shooting team delivering yet another podium finish. At the same time, there were also a few misses, with a key medal contender crashing out earlier than expected.
Before we shift our attention to Day 4, we revisit some of the key moments from Day 3:
Rubina Francis wins bronze
The highlight of the day, without a shadow of a doubt, was Rubina Francis winning bronze in the P2 women’s 10m air pistol SH1 final.
The 25-year-old shooter from Madhya Pradesh ensured India did not go through an entire day without a single medal, finishing with a final score of 211.1 after 22 shots to finish third behind Iran’s Sareh Javanmardi and Turkiye’s Aysel Ozgan, who won gold and silver respectively.
India have been winning shooting medals at the Paralympics since Tokyo 2020, and this was the first time an Indian female pistol shooter won a Paralympic medal.
Suhas Yathiraj, Sukant Kadam confirm a medal
Another happy development from the third day was India confirming its first badminton medal thanks to Suhas Yathiraj and Sukant Kadam reaching the men’s SL4 singles semi-finals with two victories in as many outings in the group stage.
While Tokyo 2020 silver medallist Yathiraj defeated South Korea’s Shin Kyung-hwan 26-24, 21-14 to register his second consecutive victory in straight games, Kadam defeated Thailand’s Siripong Teamarrom 21-12, 21-12.
Will Yathiraj win back-to-back Paralympic medals or will it be Kadam’s time to shine in Paris this year? We’ll find out on Sunday.
Sheetal and Sarita Devi bow out
A major disappointment for the Indian contingent on Day 3 of the Paralympics was archers Sheetal Devi and Sarita Devi crashing out of the women’s individual compound open event in the Round of 16 and quarter-finals respectively.
World No 1 Sheetal was among the key medal hopes heading into the Paris Games but she ended up suffering a defeat against Mariana Zuniga by the barest of margins, with the scorecard ultimately reading 138-137 in her Chilean opponent’s favour.
Sheetal was leading 29-28 after the first end, with the two then tied on 55, 82 and 111 in the next three ends. A couple of 8s in the fifth and final end, however, proved costly for the Indian and Zuniga was able to seal the contest with an 8 after firing 9 and 10 in the fifth end.
Sarita, meanwhile, had advanced to the quarter-finals with a 141-135 victory over Italy’s Eleonora Sarti, but she would bow out of the competition not long after Sheetal with a 140-145 loss against Turkey’s Oznur Cure Girdi.
Krishna Nagar retires hurt
Yathiraj and Kadam confirming at least one medal for the nation in the SL4 category was one of the few bright spots in what was otherwise a mixed day for Indian shuttlers.
While the likes of Mandeep Kaur and Nitesh Kumar won their respective encounters to enter the knockouts, the latter qualifying for the semi-finals, Tokyo 2020 gold medallist Krishna Nagar lost to Thailand’s Nattapong Meechai to suffer his second defeat in as many outings in Paris.
What’s more, Nagar couldn’t even finish his SH6 Group B match against Meechai, retiring hurt in Game 2, although it wouldn’t have made much of a difference in the end as his opponent was leading 11-3 after securing a 22-20 victory in Game 1.
Other Indian para-shuttlers finishing on the losing side on Saturday were Tarun, Manisha Ramadass, Nithya Sre Sumathy Sivan and Sivarajan Solaimalai. Manoj Sarkar won his SL3 Group A match against Jianyuan Yang, but that did not help him confirm a place in the semi-finals.
Parveen Kumar finishes 8th in men’s javelin
As was the case on Day 2, the day ended with a track event at Stade de France, with Parveen Kumar competing in the men’s javelin F57 final.
Parveen, however, could only throw as far as 42.12 metres in his fourth attempt to finish eighth out of 11 competitors. The Indian was the last to throw in the final, in which all the competitors delivered all six throws in one go, and managed to consistently breach the 40-metre mark.
Parveen, however, will be disappointed at not breaching his personal best 42.87m at the very least.