Rakesh Kumar Misses Paralympics Archery Bronze By A Point

World number one Rakesh Kumar's stunning run in the Paralympics ended without a medal as he went down by one-point to defending champion He Zihao of China in the bronze play-off of the men's compound open archery event on Sunday. The 39-year-old from Jammu, who is wheelchair-bound after suffering a spinal cord injury in 2009, had a slender one-point lead with six arrows to go. But Rakesh dropped two points in the penultimate end, as the Tokyo Paralympics champion Zihao seized the momentum, hitting six 10s in a row (with three arrows closer to the bulls-eye) to win 117-116.

Harvinder Singh had won India's solitary medal in Paralympics archery, a bronze at the Tokyo Games.

In the semifinal, Rakesh failed to bring out his A-game against 'nemesis' Ai Xinliang of China to lose by two points.

Like in the quarterfinals, Rakesh endured a slow start and trailed by three points with six arrows to go.

He fought hard and dropped just two points in the last two ends, but it was not enough as Xinliang sealed the issue 145-143 to secure his third successive win over the Indian.

Rakesh's campaign had ended in Tokyo Paralympics quarterfinals, losing to the Chinese by an identical scoreline.

The Indian earlier overcame world No. 2 Ken Swagumilang of Indonesia 144-144 (10-8) to make the quarterfinals.

A sports psychologist and dietician, Rakesh, returned to the shooting line within two hours and displayed remarkable composure to outshoot Canada's Kyle Tremblay in a riveting shoot-off with the scores reading 144-144 (10*-10).

Rakesh had a slow start, trailing by two points after nine arrows. However, staying cool as a cucumber, he delivered three perfect 10s in the fourth end, turning the tables to take a narrow 116-115 lead.

The drama