Asian Para Games 2023: Sheetal Devi wins archery compound individual gold, Rakesh Kumar bags silver

Both para-athletes ended their campaign with three medals each.

The Indian archery contingent wrapped up their campaign at the ongoing Asian Para Games 2023 on a high. Para Archery World Championships medalist, Sheetal Devi, started the day with a brilliant performance, securing a gold medal in women's individual compound open archery by narrowly defeating Singapore's Syahidah Nur with a score of 144-142. Later in the day, the experienced archer Rakesh Kumar settled for a silver medal after a closely contested match against Iran's Alisina.

In their initial encounter, Rakesh Kumar and Alisina tied with a score of 144-144. However, in the subsequent shootoff, the Iranian athlete managed a perfect 10, outshining India's Rakesh Kumar, who scored a 9. With this result, Rakesh Kumar has now accumulated three medals at this quadrennial extravaganza.

The young and promising Sheetal Devi also concluded her campaign on a high note, securing three medals in total. She first defeated her compatriot Savita with a score of 143-142 in the semifinals and then went on to clinch the gold by defeating Syahidah Noor in the final. Unfortunately, Savita could not secure any medal as she lost the bronze medal playoff match to China's Lin Yueshan in a one-sided contest.

In the men's singles open compound archery, Rakesh Kumar made a strong start by defeating Chinese Taipei's Wu Chung-Hung with a score of 145-142. However, in the final against an Iranian opponent, he had a steady start, scoring four successive 29s but a score of 28 in the final series cost him the gold medal.

The Iranian archer, on the other hand, began with a 29 and then dropped to a score of 28 in the following series. At the halfway stage, Rakesh held a slender one-point lead. The score was later leveled when Alisina scored a perfect 30. However, a below-par 27 in the penultimate stage once again shifted the match in favor of Rakesh, who now had a two-point advantage.

Despite the odds, the Iranian athlete showed remarkable composure in the final series, scoring a second perfect 30, which forced the match into a shoot off. With the momentum in favor of Alisina, Rakesh needed to score a perfect 10. Unfortunately, his form wavered in the final series, and he shot a 9 to finish his campaign with a silver medal.