Leonard's Paralympic dream denied by Chinese opponent

There was disappointment for Kerrie Leonard as she lost out in her efforts to qualify for the last 16 of the W2 Individual Compound Open at the Paralympics this morning.

The Culmullen archer was out early this morning but her hopes of advancing ended when she was defeated by China's Jiamin Zhou in the elimination round.

Leonard was the first member of Team Ireland in action on the second day of the 2024 Paralympic Games, having qualified for the last 32 following a 21st place finish in yesterday's ranking round with a season's best 653.

Her opponent Zhou, who won two gold medals at the Rio 2016 Games, came into the last 32 ranked 12th overall.

Leonard led 29-28 after the first end of the match at Esplanade des Invalides but Zhou took a narrow one-point lead after claiming the second 27-25.

While Leonard showed great resourcefulness and focus to draw level and leave the match poised at 82 apiece after the third end, Zhou took the fourth by two before going on to win 140-135 .