China wins first archery medal of Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games

China’s Chen Minyi and Zhang Tianxin defeated the Czech Republic, 138-132, in the final of the W1 mixed team event to take archery’s first gold medal of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.

“I‘ve been preparing for two years for this so I’m very satisfied,” said Chen. “All the hard work has paid off.”

Zhang added that he was excited and happy to be a gold medallist.

The pair seeded top on the first day of this tournament, setting a new Paralympic and world record for qualification. They were pre-seeded into the semifinals, where they beat the RPC and booked a berth for the final.

Behind by a point after the first end, China grew stronger.

The Czech team kept things close, but Sarka Musilova had trouble with her second arrow of each end, hitting three sixes to a single 10, which made it difficult to close a growing deficit.

Still, the silver medal is an improvement on Musilova and David Drahoninsky’s bronze from two years ago in Rio.

“We could have had gold but, today, as it happens sometimes in sport, we met somebody better. The athletes from China were better, but we will train hard before Paris to go there better prepared,” said David.

The experienced para archer was in tears after the match and during his trip to the podium.

“I want to dedicate this medal to my father, friends, all the people that didn’t have enough luck and couldn’t be here with us,” he said.

David’s father recently passed away.

The RPC’s Elena Krutova and Aleksei Leonov defeated Korea, 132-127, in the bronze medal match.

Archers competing in the W1 competition are those with the greatest level of physical impairment at the Paralympic Games. They usually have impairment in the trunk and both the top and bottom halves of their bodies.

Competition continues in Tokyo with the compound mixed team event on Sunday 29 August.

Final ranking: W1 mixed team

1.  China
2.  Czech Republic
3.  RPC
4.  Korea
5.  Brazil
6.  Japan
7. Turkey