Harvinder Singh at the Asian Para Games 2026
Harvinder Singh goes to the 2026 Asian Para Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, as the reigning Paralympic champion in men’s recurve open archery. The archery events run from 19 to 24 October. He won the Asian Para Games title in Jakarta in 2018, and he is one of two recurve men in India’s squad, with Vijay Sundi.
At the selection trials in Sonipat, he topped the qualification round and finished second in the elimination rounds, according to World Archery. “I gave my best after recovering from medical issues, and now I’m eagerly looking forward to Nagoya,” he said after being picked.
This profile will be updated with his results during the Games.
Harvinder Singh’s 2026 season
Harvinder and Vijay Sundi have won the men’s recurve doubles at all three stages of the new World Archery Para Series so far. They beat Chinese Taipei in the Bangkok final and Ukraine in the final at Nove Mesto in the Czech Republic. In Ahmedabad in September, the first stage held in India, they came from behind to beat Slovakia 6-2.
Paris 2024: India’s first archery gold
On 4 September 2024, Harvinder beat Poland’s Lukasz Ciszek 6-0 in the men’s individual recurve open final at the Paris Paralympics, winning the three sets 28-24, 28-27 and 29-25. It was India’s first gold medal in archery at any Olympic or Paralympic Games.
Three years earlier, at the Tokyo Paralympics, he had won India’s first Paralympic archery medal of any colour. In the bronze medal match on 3 September 2021, he beat South Korea’s Kim Min Su 6-5, winning the single-arrow shoot-off with a 10 to Kim’s 8.
He received the Padma Shri, one of India’s highest civilian awards, in 2025.
Harvinder Singh’s career highlights
- 2018, Asian Para Games, Jakarta: gold, men’s individual recurve
- 2021, Tokyo Paralympics: bronze, men’s individual recurve open
- 2024, Paris Paralympics: gold, men’s individual recurve open
- 2026, World Archery Para Series, Bangkok: gold, men’s recurve doubles (with Vijay Sundi)
- 2026, World Archery Para Series, Nove Mesto: gold, men’s recurve doubles (with Vijay Sundi)
- 2026, World Archery Para Series, Ahmedabad: gold, men’s recurve doubles (with Vijay Sundi)
From a Haryana farm to Paralympic champion
Harvinder comes from a farming family in Kaithal district, Haryana. When he was about 18 months old, he caught dengue, and an injection from a local doctor damaged his legs and left him unable to walk normally.
He took up archery in 2012, while studying economics in Patiala, after watching the London 2012 Paralympics. He went on to start a PhD in economics alongside his sporting career. During the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, he turned part of his family’s farm into a practice range so he could keep training for Tokyo.
He shares the squad for Aichi-Nagoya with Sheetal Devi, the world champion in women’s compound para archery. For another Indian archer who made history this year, read the profile of Kumkum Mohod, the Asian Games 2026 recurve champion.
Updated 15 October 2026. Sources: World Archery (India squad), India TV (Paris 2024), All India Radio (Paris 2024), Scroll (Tokyo 2020), Careers360 (PTI), Sportskeeda and Wikipedia.
