Japan: Indian para-archers Sheetal Devi and Toman Kumar clinched the gold medal in the compound mixed team event at the Asian Para Games in Aichi-Nagoya on Thursday, securing India’s first archery gold of the ongoing edition.
The Indian pair, who are also world championship bronze medallists, defeated their Indonesian opponents 151-148 in the final to claim the top honours.
This was Sheetal’s second medal at the Aichi-Nagoya Games, having earlier won silver in the women’s compound doubles event alongside Payal Nag.
Sheetal and Kumar entered the competition in impressive form, setting a new world record in the mixed team qualification round in Okazaki.
The 18-year-old Sheetal scored 704 points out of a possible 720 in the women’s compound qualification, equalling the world record held by Turkiye’s Oznur Cure Girdi.
She also improved her previous Asian record of 698, set in Bangkok in March, by six points and raised the Asian Para Games record from 680 to 704.
Sheetal and Kumar, the reigning world champions and world No. 1 pair, combined for 1,402 points in the mixed team qualification round, surpassing the previous world record of 1,400, also held by India.
Sheetal, the defending champion in the women’s compound individual event, began her Aichi-Nagoya 2026 campaign on Monday by equalling the world record in the women’s qualification round.
She subsequently partnered with quadruple-amputee archer Payal Nag in the women’s compound doubles qualification, where the Indian duo registered a combined score of 1,379 to establish new Asian and Games records.
Their performance surpassed the previous Asian record of 1,378, with Payal contributing 675 points as the pair topped the qualification rankings.
Sheetal previously won gold in the women’s compound individual event at the 2023 Asian Para Games in Hangzhou and secured a bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Paralympics.
She has also won a world championship title, establishing herself among the leading para-archers internationally.
Meanwhile, Kumar is a world champion in the men’s compound individual category and holds the world No. 1 ranking in his classification.
[DD News]