Bull's-eye under pressure: Para archer Sheetal wins landmark gold in Ahmedabad

Sheetal Devi beat Kazakhstan's Aizada Seidan in a shoot-off to win the compound women's title in Ahmedabad. The victory gave the reigning world champion her first individual World Archery Para Series crown ahead of the Para-Asian Games.Sheetal Devi won a gold medal in women's compound individual event in World Archery Para Series in Ahmedabad on September 9 (PTI Photo)Reigning world champion Sheetal Devi produced her best under pressure in front of her home crowd in Ahmedabad, winning her first individual title on the World Archery Para Series circuit on Wednesday.The 19-year-old Indian edged Kazakhstan’s Aizada Seidan 10-9 in a shoot-off after the two archers finished the compound women’s final tied at 144-144. It was a fitting end to a competition in which Sheetal had already underlined her form by topping qualification with a season-best 698 — a score that also improved her own Asian record by one point.The tension of the shoot-off barely seemed to affect Sheetal. She smiled after shooting a perfect 10, hitting the inner ring and putting the pressure firmly on Seidan. The Indian team gathered around the range already knew the gold was theirs before the Kazakh archer took her shot. Seidan could only manage a nine, sparking celebrations as Sheetal secured gold on the final day of the World Archery Para Series Stage III in Ahmedabad.Sheetal had earned the top seed after her 698 in qualification, finishing 10 points clear of Seidan and receiving a first-round bye. Her performance also made India’s first international hosting of a World Archery Para Series event a memorable one. The title comes at an important time for Sheetal, with the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Para Games less than two months away. She will head to Japan looking to defend the compound women’s individual and mixed-team titles she won at the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Para Games.Sheetal also picked up a mixed-team bronze in Ahmedabad alongside Toman Kumar. The Indian pair defeated Iraq’s Sara Al-Hamid and Abbas Kadhim 157-145 in the bronze-medal match. India had already enjoyed a strong penultimate day at the event, winning two golds and two silvers and adding a bronze. Reigning world champion Toman Kumar and Shyam Sundar Swami won the men’s compound team title with a 152-139 victory over Iraq, while Harvinder Singh and Vijay Sundi fought back to beat Slovakia 6-2 in the men’s recurve team final. Bhawna and Pooja took silver in the women’s recurve team event.A REMARKABLE TROPHY CABINETFor Sheetal, though, the Ahmedabad gold adds another significant chapter to a remarkable rise.She became the first woman without arms to win a para archery world title when she claimed the compound women’s crown at the 2025 World Archery Para Championships in Gwangju, defeating defending champion znur Cre Girdi 146-143. She had already won silver at the 2023 World Championships before becoming a two-time Asian Para Games champion in Hangzhou, where she won individual and mixed-team gold and a team silver.At Paris 2024, Sheetal became India’s youngest Paralympic medallist at 17 when she won compound mixed-team bronze with Rakesh Kumar. She has also been ranked world No. 1 in compound women’s para archery and was named the para women’s winner at the 2023 World Archery Awards.Now, with a world title, a Paralympic medal, two Asian Para Games golds and her first individual World Para Series title already on her rsume, Sheetal heads towards Aichi-Nagoya with another reminder that pressure is increasingly becoming her territory.- EndsPublished By: Akshay RameshPublished On: Sep 9, 2026 18:38 IST