India secures archery gold and all-Indian badminton final at Asian Para Games

India's gold medal tally at the Asian Para Games reached 23 on Friday morning.

Archery doubles gold

Harvinder Singh and debutant Vijay Sundi created history by clinching the gold medal in the men's recurve doubles event. The pair defeated the Chinese duo of Yun Duo and Zhao Lixue 5-1. India and China shared the opening set after both sides shot 35. However, the Indian pair took control from there on, winning the second set 37-36 and the third 38-36 to seal the title.

Harvinder had lost the use of his legs due to complications from dengue treatment. His international debut came in the 2017 Para Archery World Championship, where he finished seventh. His first major achievement came in 2018, when he won gold at the Para Asian Games.

All-Indian badminton final

Minutes later, Nitesh Kumar brought another gold medal by beating Pramod Bhagat in the all-Indian men's singles SL3 badminton final. The former came out on top 21-18, 21-16 to clinch gold. With the loss, Pramod took home silver, making it a one-two finish for India.

Earlier, Bhawna and Pooja had secured India’s first-ever medal in the Women’s Recurve Doubles event at the Asian Para Games. The duo lost 0-6 to China in the gold medal match, going down 31-38, 30-35, and 29-39 in the three-set encounter. India's Parmod also added another silver, clocking 4:09.65 to finish second in the men’s 1500m T46. This was his second successive silver at the Asian Para Games.

Related on Apex Sports News

• Swati Chaudhary wins India's first W1 archery silver at Asian Para Games

• Asian Para Games: Ashok Malik Wins Silver, Secures India’s First Para Powerlifting Medal

• India takes gold and silver in men's high jump T64 at Asian Para Games 2026

Sources

• Hindustan Times

• Times of India

• Photo: Digantatalukdar, CC BY 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)