Paris 2024 Paralympics Archery: Sheetal Devi, Sarita impress at compound ranking round; Rakesh Kumar finishes fifth
Indian para-shooter Sheetal Devi has secured her place in the round of 16 at the Paris 2024 Paralympics. Competing in the women's individual compound open archery event, the 17-year-old para archer, born without arms and shooting with her legs, delivered an awe-inspiring performance. Her score of 703 out of 720 marked her personal best, putting her second in the ranking round.
Despite the remarkable achievement, Sheetal narrowly missed setting a world record by just one point. Turkey's Öznur Cüre outshot her by a single point, setting a new world record with a score of 704. Sheetal’s accuracy and consistency with 59 tens and 24 X's kept her ahead of Iran’s Fatemeh Hemmati, who finished third with a personal best of 696 points.
Next at Paris 2024 Paralympics Sheetal could potentially face Tokyo 2020 silver medalist Mariana Zuniga from Chile. Zuniga, who placed 15th, must first overcome Choi Na Mi of Korea in the round of 32.
Paris 2024 Paralympics Women's Individual Compound Open Ranking Round Results:
- Öznur Cüre - Turkey - 704 points
- Sheetal Devi - India - 703 points
- Fatemeh Hemmati - Iran - 696 points
- Jodie Grinham - Great Britain - 693 points
- Jane Karla Gogel - Brazil - 691 points
- Julie Rigault Chupin - France - 689 points
- Phoebe Paterson Pine - Great Britain - 688 points
- Eleonora Sarti - Italy - 684 points
- Sarita - India - 682 points
- Maria del Pilar Riveros - Costa Rica - 681 points
- Nur Syahidah Alim - Singapore - 677 points
- Zhou Jiamin - China - 676 points
- Kseniya Markitantova - Poland - 676 points
- Lin Yueshan - China - 670 points
- Mariana Zuniga - Chile - 670 points
- Sarah Al-Hameed - Iraq - 669 points
- Teodora Audi Ayudia Ferelly - Indonesia - 662 points
- Choi Na Mi - South Korea - 661 points
- Jeong Jinyoung - South Korea - 659 points
- Joma Akter - Bangladesh - 658 points
- Kerrie Leonard - Ireland - 653 points
- Ameera Lee - Australia - 649 points
- Melissa-Anne Tanner - Australia - 646 points
- Nur Jannaton Abdul Jalil - Malaysia - 646 points
- Giulia Pesci - Italy - 644 points
- Diana Gonzabay Guaman - Ecuador - 637 points
- Sevgi Yorulmaz - Turkey - 634 points
- Agustina Maximo Bantiloc - Philippines - 618 points
Rakesh Kumar with a gritty performance in the Men's Event at Paris 2024 Paralympics
On the men’s side, India's Rakesh Kumar gave strong performances in the men’s individual compound open ranking round at the Paris 2024 Paralympics. Rakesh showed immense resilience, climbing from 22nd early on to finish fifth with a score of 696. His performance combined with Sheetal Devi's set a new world record for the mixed team ranking round with a total of 1399 points.
His rise in the rankings was marked by consistent shooting, ending in 50 tens and 17 X's. Shyam Sundar Swami, who started the day in 12th, managed to finish 15th with 688 points in the Paris 2024 Paralympics.
The competition at the Paris 2024 Paralympics was fierce, with China's Ai Xinliang taking first place, setting a Paralympic record with a score of 709. His compatriot, He Zihao, claimed second with 704 points, while Finland’s Jere Forsberg took third, just one point behind.
Paris 2024 Paralympics Men's Individual Compound Open Ranking Round results:
- Ai Xinliang - China - 709 points
- He Zihao - China - 704 points
- Jere Forsberg - Finland - 697 points
- Kyle Tremblay - Canada - 697 points
- Rakesh Kumar - India - 696 points
- Nathan MacQueen - Great Britain - 696 points
- Kevin Polish - USA - 695 points
- Piotr van Montagu - Belgium - 694 points
- Abbas Kadhim - Iraq - 694 points
- Jonathon Milne - Australia - 693 points
- Matteo Bonacina - Italy - 691 points
- Ken Swagumilang - Indonesia - 691 points
- Michael Meier - Austria - 691 points
- Victor Sardina Viveros - Mexico - 688 points
- Shyam Sundar Swami - India - 688 points
- Marcel Pavlik - Slovakia - 688 points
- Maxime Guerin - France - 686 points
- Comsan Singpirom - Thailand - 686 points
- Matt Stutzman - USA - 686 points
- Reinaldo Vagner Charao Ferreira - Brazil - 685 points
- Patrick French - Australia - 684 points
- Hadi Nori - Iran - 682 points
- Yuya Oe - Japan - 682 points
- Thierry Joussaume - France - 679 points
- Serhiy Atamanenko - Ukraine - 678 points
- Fernando Gale Montorio - Spain - 678 points
- Martin Doric - Slovakia - 674 points
- Aliou Drame - Senegal - 672 points
- Alisina Manshaezadeh - Iran - 672 points
- Ka Chuen Ngai - Hong Kong - 670 points
- Daneshen Govinda Rajan - Malaysia - 666 points
- Diego Quesada Arias - Costa Rica - 313 points