Sheetal Devi Wins Two Golds in Two Hours at Asian Para Games After World-Record Qualification

Sheetal Devi won two Asian Para Games gold medals in about two hours on Thursday. The armless archer from Jammu and Kashmir first took the compound mixed team title with Toman Kumar, then returned to the range in Nagoya and won the women's compound individual final with a comeback.

The 19-year-old world champion now has three medals at these Games, after earlier winning women's doubles silver with Payal Nag of Odisha. She reached Thursday's individual final after beating Japan's Aya Shinohara in the semi-final, as we reported earlier this week.

A world record, then a comfortable final

The mixed team gold came first. Sheetal and Toman, the top seeds, had set a world record in the ranking round with a combined 1,402 points, two more than the previous best. They beat Indonesia's Teodora Audi Ayudia Ferelly and Ken Swagumilang 151-148 in the final.

India led throughout. They took the first end 38-37 and stretched the lead to 77-73 after the second, dropping only one point in that end. Indonesia won the third end by a point, but both pairs shot 38 in the last end, and India won by three. It was India's first archery gold of these Games. It was also Sheetal's second straight Asian Para Games mixed team title: she won it with Rakesh Kumar in Hangzhou in 2023.

The individual comeback

The individual final was much closer. It was a rematch of the 2023 final against Singapore's Alim Nur Syahidah, who had lost that one by two points. Alim started strongly and led by four points after the first two ends of six arrows.

Sheetal then shot six 10s across the next two ends, three of them Xs, the inner ring closest to the centre. That turned a four-point deficit into a two-point lead before the final three-arrow end. She shot three 9s for 27. Alim managed 9, 8 and 9 for 26, and Sheetal won 142-139.

The win means Sheetal has retained both titles she won in Hangzhou, a rare double defence in a sport where one bad end can decide a match.

How she shoots

Sheetal was born without arms. She holds and positions the compound bow with her feet and legs, and draws and releases the string using her shoulder and jaw. She has become one of the best-known figures in Indian para sport, and Thursday's two titles add to a growing list of major medals.

India's campaign

The Games in Aichi-Nagoya run until October 24. Archery had been missing from India's gold count until Thursday. Swati Chaudhary also made history on the same day by reaching the women's W1 final and winning silver, India's first medal in that category, after losing to China's Cen Mengkan. Discus thrower Suvarna Raj added a gold in the women's F54 event. With two days left, India has a chance to add more golds in para badminton, where several players have reached the semi-finals.

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