Asian Para Games: Sheetal Devi, Swati Chaudhary storm archery final, win gold medals for India

Sheetal Devi and Swati Chaudhary NEW DELHI: Indian para archers Sheetal Devi and Swati Chaudhary stormed into the finals of their respective events at the 2026 Asian Para Games on Tuesday, securing at least two medals for the country and creating opportunities to add to India’s tally.Defending champion Sheetal continued her impressive run in the women’s compound category by defeating Japan’s Shinohara Aya 145-137 in the semi-finals. The 19-year-old will face Singapore’s Alim Nur Syahidah in the gold medal match on October 22.Swati, making her debut at the continental multi-sport event, also booked her place in the final after defeating South Korea’s Lee Eunhee 6-2 in the women’s W1 semi-final. She will face China’s Mengkan in the gold competition, with both Indian archers now assured of at least silver medals.

Sheetal continues her record run

Born without arms and shooting using her legs and shoulders, Sheetal is one of India’s leading para archery performers. The archer from Jammu and Kashmir equaled the world record and set a new Asian record during the qualifiers, underlining her credentials as she bids to defend her title.She continued her dominant run in the knockout rounds, defeating Hong Kong’s Chan Yuen Wah 149-134 in the pre-quarterfinals and the Philippines’ Agustina Bantiloc 147-135 in the quarter-finals before overcoming Shinohara in the last four.Sheetal also made a record 149 against Chan, breaking the previous world record of 148 held by Britain’s Jessica Stretton.The world number one will now look to round off her campaign with another gold medal. She is also scheduled to compete in the semifinals of the women’s doubles alongside Payal Nag.

Mixed teams advance as India suffer individual setbacks

India also advanced to the semi-finals in both recurve and mixed team events. Paralympic gold medalist Harvinder Singh and Bhawna beat Thailand 6-0 in the mixed team quarter-finals, Sheetal and Toman Kumar defeated Japan 154-147 in the mixed team competition.However, the day brought disappointment in several individual events. Harvinder lost 5-6 to China’s Yun Duo in a shootout in the men’s quarterfinals, while Bhawna lost 2-6 to Mongolia’s Selengee Demberel in the round of 16.In the men’s combined event, Toman suffered a 144-149 semi-final defeat to China’s Ai Xinliang and will fight for bronze. Shyam Sundar Swamy had earlier lost 146-147 to Ai in the quarterfinals.With Sheetal and Swati now one win away from gold, India will look to translate their strong performances into top podium finishes as the para archery competition progresses.