India’s archery sensation Sheetal Devi enjoyed a record-breaking day at the Asian Para Games on Monday, equalling the world record and setting a new Asian mark in the women’s compound ranking round before setting another world record alongside Toman Kumar in the mixed team event in Nagoya.
Their combined score earned the duo direct entry into the quarter-finals, where they will face the winners of the contest between Iraq and Japan. Sheetal, who uses her feet and legs to position the compound bow and her shoulder and jaw to draw and release the string, delivered a near-flawless performance to score 704 out of a possible 720 points in the women’s ranking round at the Okazaki Chuo Sogo Park Multipurpose Square. Sheetal’s performance in Nagoya marked a significant improvement on her previous Asian Para Games record of 680 points, set in Hangzhou three years ago, where she won gold in the individual and mixed team events and silver in doubles. She subsequently raised her score to 698 in March before matching the world record in Nagoya. Later in the day, Sheetal teamed up with Toman to aggregate 1,402 points in the compound mixed team ranking round, surpassing the previous world record of 1,400. Toman had scored 698 in the men’s compound qualification round. Sheetal was not the only Indian in the women’s compound qualification, with Payal Naga making her Asian Games debut with a score of 675 points.
The quadruple amputee from Odisha had earlier stunned Sheetal to win gold at the World Archery Para Series in Bangkok in April.
The duo combined for 1,379 points to top the women’s compound team qualification standings, finishing ahead of China, who scored 1,338. Incidentally, Sheetal was also part of the previous mixed-team world-record combination alongside Rakesh Kumar. Their performance earned India a direct berth in the semifinals, where the pair will face the winners of the Thailand-Kazakhstan quarterfinal.
