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Rakesh, Sheetal on target, India top Asian Para C'ships
India finished Asian Para Archery Championships on top, ending the competition with an overall tally of nine medals (four gold, four silver, one bronze)
Fuelled by superlative performances from Rakesh Kumar and Sheetal Devi, India finished Asian Para Archery Championships on top, ending the competition with an overall tally of nine medals (four gold, four silver, one bronze). Traditional powerhouses South Korea (5) and China (4) were next as Indian archers proved that their seven-medal haul at the Asian Para Games in Hangzhou last month — where India breached the 100-medal mark for the first time — was no fluke.
World No. 5 Rakesh Kumar led the Indian challenge on Wednesday with a hat-trick of gold medals. The 38-year-old from Katra in Jammu and Kashmir aced the compound open men, compound men open doubles, and compound open mixed team events. A silver medallist at the Asian Para Games, Rakesh held his nerve in the high-pressure final against Ken Swagumilang, turning a two-point midway deficit into a narrow 145-144 win.
Rakesh also partnered Suraj Singh to win the men's compound open team gold, beating Chinese Taipei's Chung-Hung Wu and Chih-Chiang Chng 147-144. He then won the mixed team gold with Sheetal Devi defeating Indonesia's Teodora Audi Ayudia Ferelly and Ken Swagumilang 154-149.
Hailing from a humble family — his father is a carpenter and mother is a housewife — Rakesh met with an accident in January 2010 that led to both his legs being paralysed. Wheelchair bound, Rakesh slipped into depression and contemplated suicide before being spotted by coach Kuldeep Kumar in 2017. Kumar trained him at the archery centre in Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board Sports Complex, gradually developing him into a world-class para archer. Rakesh went on to win the men's compound open section of the Fazza Para Archery World Ranking Tournament in Dubai in February 2021. At the Tokyo Paralympics later that year, he finished sixth.
Another product of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board Sports Complex, Sheetal took the fine form she displayed in Hangzhou Asian Para Games to Bangkok. The 16-year-old from Loidhar village in Jammu and Kashmir's Kishtwar won a silver in compound open women, going down to Indonesia's Nur Alim Syahidah in a tense shoot off after the five regulation ends produced a 142-142 stalemate. The shoot off ended in another tie (10-all) but the Indonesian won for hitting closer to the centre.
Born with Phocomelia, a disorder causing under-developed limbs, Sheetal began training for the sport only two years ago and became the first armless woman to win a Para World Archery Championships medal — a silver — in July.
Earlier, The pair of Sheetal and Jyoti won the compound open women doubles event, thrashing Korea's Jin Young Jeong and Na Mi Choi 148-137 in a lopsided final. The 16-year-old also combined with Rakesh to win the compound open mixed team event.
In the women's recurve open team final, India lost to Indonesia in the tie-breaker 4-5. The men's recurve doubles team of Harvinder and Vivek Chikara then went down to South Korea 2-6 to settle for a silver. The men's recurve W1 doubles team of Adil and Naveen lost to South Korea 122-137 to bag a third silver.
