Harvinder Singh and Vijay Sundi won the men’s para recurve doubles gold at the Asian Para Games on Friday, beating China’s Yun Duo and Zhao Lixue 5-1 in the final at Okazaki Chuo Sogo Park Multipurpose Square in Aichi-Nagoya. The Indian pair dropped the shared opening set but took the next two to close out the title in straight sets after that.
Both pairs scored 35 in the first set and shared the points, one apiece. India then edged ahead with a 37-36 win in the second set before strengthening their hold with a 38-36 victory in the third. Two set wins were worth two points each, so the shared opener and the back-to-back set wins added up to the 5-1 margin.
There was more Indian success on the archery range. Pooja and Bhawana took silver in the women’s para recurve doubles, losing 0-6 to China’s Wang Xueqian and Gao Zihan in their final.
The men’s final was the headline result of the day for India’s archery contingent. Harvinder and Sundi produced a composed performance, recovering from the evenly contested opening set to dominate the remainder of the match and take the title without needing a fourth set.
Harvinder Singh’s road to another Asian Para Games gold
For Harvinder, the gold in Aichi-Nagoya is his second at the Asian Para Games. He first won the title in 2018, and since then he has become the most decorated para archer India has produced. He comes from a farming family and lost the use of his legs at the age of one and a half following complications during dengue treatment. Inspired by the 2012 London Paralympics, he took up archery and made his international debut at the 2017 Para Archery World Championship, where he finished seventh.
He made history at the Tokyo Paralympics by securing India’s first Paralympic medal in archery, a bronze, and then captured gold in the recurve men’s open event at the 2024 Paris Paralympics. His achievements were recognised with the Arjuna Award in 2021 and the Padma Shri in 2025. Alongside his sporting career, he is pursuing a PhD in Economics at Punjabi University, Patiala.
Vijay Sundi’s journey from Jharkhand to the Asian Para Games podium
Sundi, by contrast, arrived at these Asian Para Games as a debutant. He is from Sikursai village in Jharkhand’s West Singhbhum district and took up archery in 2016 at the Turtung Archery Training Centre after being affected by polio. His progress received a major boost in 2022, when local industrialists provided him with a modern recurve bow, helping him move towards international-level competition. He has also benefited from the guidance of grassroots coach Mahendra Sinku.
He won gold in the recurve men’s open category at the Khelo India Para Games 2025 and earned bronze in the recurve men’s team event at the 2026 Para Archery National Championship. The gold in Aichi-Nagoya, won alongside one of the country’s most experienced para archers, is the biggest result of his career so far.
Recent form before the Games
Both archers arrived at the Asian Para Games with recent international success behind them. At the Bangkok 2026 World Archery Para Series, Harvinder won gold in the men’s team event and silver in the recurve men’s category, while Sundi secured gold in the men’s team event and bronze in the mixed team competition. The doubles gold in Japan is a continuation of that run of results. That form is why the pair arrived at the Asian Para Games as genuine medal contenders, and they delivered on Friday.
The result came on Day 8 of the Asian Para Games, Friday, October 23. For Sundi, a debutant at these Asian Para Games, the gold caps a rise that began at a training centre in Jharkhand less than a decade ago.
India’s archery medals in Aichi-Nagoya
India’s archers leave the range in Aichi-Nagoya with the men’s doubles gold from Harvinder Singh and Vijay Sundi and the women’s doubles silver from Pooja and Bhawana. The finals were reported on Friday, October 23, with the men’s pair winning 5-1 and the women’s pair going down 0-6 to China.