Sheetal Devi, Rakesh Kumar win Paralympic bronze in open compound mixed team event
The Indian duo of Sheetal Devi and Rakesh Kumar defated Eleonora Sarti & Matteo Bonacina of Italy 156-155 in an intense contest.
The Indian duo of Sheetal Devi and Rakesh Kumar bagged a bronze medal in the compound open archery mixed team event, defeating Eleonora Sarti & Matteo Bonacina of Italy 156-155 in an intense contest.
It is only the second time that India has won a medal in Paralympics in archery. Harvinder Singh bagged a bronze at the Tokyo edition of the Games three years ago.
India won after the 17-year-old Sheetal’s shot was upgraded following a revision. With just four arrows left, the Indians were trailing by a point with Sarti displaying awesome form even as her partner Bonacina struggled a bit. But the Indian pair held on to emerge winners in the end.
Earlier, they suffered heartbreak in an intense semi-final, losing to Iran’s Hadi Nori and Fatemeh Hemmati in the shoot-off. The competition went into the decider after India and Iran tied with 152 points each. However, Hemmati’s near-perfect shot in the shoot-off denied Kumar & Devi a chance to aim at Gold.
Kumar and Sheetal registered a 154-143 win over Indonesia’s Teodora Audi Ayudia Ferellyin and Ken Swagumilang in the quarterfinals. The top seeds in the mixed compound open event, Sheetal and Rakesh, displayed fine form en route to the semifinal where they will meet Iran’s Fatemeh Hemmati and Hadi Nori.
The Iranian duo prevailed over Brazil’s Jane Karla Gogel and Reinaldo Vagner Charao Ferreira 153-151 in their quarterfinal clash.
The Indians sealed the win with a perfect 40 in the fourth and final end.
Sheetal, 17, was born in 2007 with phocomelia, a rare congenital disorder leading to underdeveloped limbs. The condition resulted in her arms not fully forming.
The 39-year-old Rakesh suffered a spinal cord injury and after recovering in 2009 he realised he would be wheelchair-bound for life, which plunged him into depression and even forced him to contemplate taking his own life.
On Sunday, Rakesh lost to China’s He Zihao by one point in the men’s compound open category bronze medal match.
Read More: Paris Paralympics 2024: Sheetal Devi, Rakesh Kumar Clinch Archery Mixed Team Bronze – News18
