Reigning world champion Sheetal Devi assured India of a medal after storming into the women’s compound individual final on the third day of the World Archery Para Series Stage III on Monday. In an all-Indian semifinal, the armless archer from Jammu defeated Sarita 145-143 to seal her place in the gold-medal contest, where she will face Kazakhstan’s Aizada Seidan. Sarita remains in medal contention and will take on China’s Wang Huiting in the bronze-medal match.
Sheetal eyes gold
The women’s compound event has therefore guaranteed India at least one medal, while Sarita has an opportunity to add another. World No. 1 Sheetal will now look to convert her impressive run into gold as she continues to underline her status among the leading names in international para archery.
In the men’s compound section, reigning world champion and World No. 1 Toman Kumar fell short of reaching the final after losing 144-146 to top seed Ken Swagumilang of Indonesia in the semifinal. Toman will now face Iraq’s Abbas Kahdim for the bronze medal. Swagumilang had earlier ended another Indian challenge, defeating Gurwinder Singh 143-141 in the quarterfinals.
W1 challenge continues
India’s campaign in the W1 men’s section ended in the quarterfinals after fifth seed Adil Mohamed Nazir Ansari and ninth seed Nurudin suffered defeats. Adil pushed Czechia’s multiple Paralympic medallist David Drahoninsky to a shoot-off before going down 5-6 (8-10), while Nurudin lost 2-6 to China’s top seed Yang Xupeng.
India, however, remained in medal contention in the W1 women’s section, with second seed Swati Chaudhary set to compete for bronze. Swati lost 1-7 to China’s sixth seed Liu Jing in the semifinal. Athletes in the W1 classification typically have impairments affecting the upper and lower parts of the body, the torso and at least three limbs. Some W1 archers are permitted to use an assistant to help load the bow.