Indian archer Sheetal Devi posted an incredible 703 points in the Women’s open compound qualification at her first Paralympics games on Thursday. Sheetal bettered her previous best with her showing in Paris.
The Indian archer finished 2nd behind Cure Girdi of Turkey who shot a world record of 704.
Sheetal struck 59 10s and 25 Xs in her 72 arrows fired on the day to establish her superiority over all but one archer in the field and qualified directly to the Round of 16.
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Devi was born with phocomelia syndrome, a rare congenital disorder which kept her limbs underdeveloped.
The top-four finishers in the ranking round, including Devi, got byes from the round of 32 competition and they will feature in the round of 16 on Saturday.
Devi will face the winner of round of 32 match between Mariana Zuniga of Chile and Choi Na Mi of Korea, who finished 15th and 18th respectively in the ranking round.
Zuniga had won a silver in the women’s individual compound open in the Tokyo Paralympics.
Devi had become a sensation during last year’s Asian Para Games in Hangzhou, China, where she became the first Indian woman to win two gold medals in a single edition of the Games. She had won a third medal — a silver — also.
She had won gold medals in the women’s individual compound as well as mixed team event and a silver in the women’s doubles in Hangzhou.
Discovered at a military camp in a remote part of Kishtwar in Jammu and Kashmir and adopted by the Indian Army in her childhood, Devi also became the first armless woman to win a Para World Archery Championships medal last year.
Compatriot Sarita managed a 9th-place finish with a tally of 682 points as she made 40 10s and 15 Xs in the ranking round.
In the men’s individual recurve event, Indian Harvinder Singh finished the rankings round 9th with 637 points as he tallied 19 10s and 5 Xs in his 72 attempts.
The 84-strong Indian contingent looks to better their previous best medal tally of 19 medals, which the national contingent picked up at the previous edition of the Paralympics at Tokyo 2020.
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India has sent their biggest-ever contingent to the French capital city and look to script history in the City of Light.
The national contingent headed by Sumit Antil and Bhagyashri Jadav at the opening ceremony on Wednesday as the national delegations made their way around the Palace de La Concorde in the Parisian city.
(With Inputs From PTI)