Sheetal Devi Secures Historic Gold At Asian Para Games

Thursday, 22 October was a long day at the range in Aichi-Nagoya, and Sheetal Devi was at her best, mentally, for nearly all of it. The 19-year-old left the Asian Para Games 2026 with two golds (both seconds apart), one in the compound mixed team event, another in the women's individual compound final, and a silver (that she had already won earlier in the Games). For para archery fans, it was business as usual from the unassuming archer. For those encountering her storyline for the first time, it was the kind of day that you stop scrolling for.

Two Finals, a Few Hours Apart

The first gold came alongside Toman Kumar in the mixed team final. The pair beat Indonesia’s Teodora Audi Ayudia Ferelly and Ken Swagumilang 151–148 to give India its first archery gold of this edition, and it was the country’s 16th gold of the Games overall. They had earned their place in that final through a tense semifinal against Chinese Taipei that finished 142–141, which says plenty about how little room for error there was.

The individual final followed within a couple of hours, and it was a rematch many fans remembered. She faced Nur Syahidah Alim of Singapore, whom she had beaten in the gold medal match at Hangzhou 2023. She was leading at one stage but then lost a couple of set points, before in the end firing 3 into the 9 for 27 points while Alim shot 26.   The final score of 142–139 delivered a Sheetal Devi gold medal that made her back-to-back Asian Para Games individual champion.

The Archer Behind the Scorecard

Sheetal was born without arms in Loidhar, in Jammu and Kashmir, and she took up archery only in 2021 after a physical test showed that her upper-body strength could carry her in sport. She shoots using her legs and upper body, and the progress since then has been quick. At 16, she became the first woman without arms to win a medal at the World Para Archery Championships, taking silver in 2023. She then won the individual world title in 2025 and a bronze at the Paris 2024 Paralympics, and she currently sits at world number one in women’s compound. Across two editions, she now has four Asian Para Games golds to her name.

What stands out in Nagoya is her temperament as much as her aim. Winning one final is hard enough, and stepping back onto the line for a second, against a familiar rival and with fresh nerves, asks for something different. She also took home silver in the women’s doubles with Payal Nag, so that makes three medals from a single Games for someone who still has most of her career ahead of her.