Indian para-archer Sheetal Devi wrote her name in the history books on the first day of action in the 2024 Paris Paralympics during the ranking round of the women's compound archery on Thursday (August 29) at the iconic Les Invaldis Arena.
The 17-year-old is the youngest-ever Indian paraathlete to participate in the Paralympics in history. She is the world's only active armless archer and showed why she is regarded among India's brightest medal hopes with a stunning display.
She brought her A-game to the park and was involved in a tense competition with Turkey's Oznur Cure Girdi. Both created history as they crossed both the existing Paralympics and World Record. Sheetal finished with a score of 703 while missing the top spot and new world record by one point as Girdi scored 704.
The existing world record for Compound Open Para Archer was 698, set by Great Britain's Phoebe Paterson Pine earlier this month in Oxfordshire. Meanwhile, the old Paralympic record of 694 was set by Jessica Stretton in the Tokyo Paralympics
Also Read:Meet India’s Sheetal Devi, the 17 year old archer who is shooting without an arm.
When is Sheetal Devi's Medal Round?
Sheetal will now enter the elimination rounds as the second seed and will fancy her chances of winning a medal. As a result of finishing in the top four, she will get a bye to the Round of 16. Her first match will take place on Saturday (August 30), while the quarter-final, semi-final, and medal matches will also take place on the same day.
Alongside Sheetal, another Indian Sarita Adhana was part of the competition. She qualified in 9th place with a score of 682 points.
Sheetal burst into the limelight last year when she won two gold medals and a silver at the Asian Para Games. She was the first-ever Indian woman to win multiple gold medals in a single edition.
She also won the Arjuna award last year.