KYRON Duke was full of hope for the future on the back of a new lifetime best in the javelin at the Paralympics in Rio.
Cwmbran ace Duke threw 39.30m to finish sixth in the men’s F41 final, just under two metres off the medals.
Iraq’s Kovan Abdulraheem and Wildan Nukhailawi clinched gold and silver respectively while China’s world champion Sun Pengxiang claimed bronze.
Duke, 23, now has two Paralympic Games under his belt and is already looking forward to a third when Tokyo are the hosts in 2020.
He will hope to extend his personal best by then and add to his collection of European and world championship medals.
London’s Olympic Stadium, where Duke made his Paralympics debut in 2012 as a 19-year-old, will be the venue for next year’s IPC World Championships.
And Duke, who was also fifth in the F41 shot put final in Brazil, is confident about what lies ahead.
Reflecting on his performance in the javelin at Rio 2016 and giving his thoughts on the future, he said: “I can’t ask for anything better, it is not a medal but it is as good as. I have done my best and come out at the top of my game.
“I’m really looking forward to the World Championships back at home next year and then I’ve got my eyes set on Tokyo 2020.
“I’m hungry for it – I’m getting closer and closer. I threw a PB (in Rio) so it is going to come.
“Not everyone gets what they want straight away, things take time.
“But I have the determination and will put in the hard work to get there.”
Meanwhile, after an agonising defeat in the quarter-finals of the mixed team recurve, Cwmbran archer Dave Phillips goes again in the men’s individual recurve today.
The Welshman, taking part in his first Paralympics at the age of 50, faces the host nation’s Francisco Cordeiro in the last 32.
Phillips would need to win five matches to get his hands on the gold medal, although he may well have had a medal around his neck on Sunday.
Competing with teammate Tania Nadarajah in the mixed event, the ParalympicsGB pair fought back from two sets down against top seeds Iran to take the clash into a shoot-off.
Both duos hit eight and seven with their two arrows but Phillips and Nadarajah's opponents, Ebrahim Ranjbarkivaj and Zahra Nemati, were closer to the bullseye.
The Iranians went all the way to the final but lost to China. Italy won the bronze medal.
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