Unarmed archer The first Indian woman to win two gold medals in the Asian Para Games is Sheetal Devi

In the women’s individual compound event here on Friday, teenage armless archer Sheetal Devi made history by becoming the first Indian woman to win two gold medals in a single Asian Para Games competition.

The 16-year-old from Jammu and Kashmir, who balances her bow with her foot, has won three gold in total.

Sheetal earned silver in the women’s doubles and gold in the compound mixed team event earlier this week.

In July, Sheetal became the first armless woman to win a medal at the Para World Archery Championships. She was found in a military base in a remote section of Kishtwar and adopted by the Indian Army when she was a little girl. She beat Singapore’s Alim Nur Syahidah 144-142 in the gold medal match.

Earlier this week, Ankur Dhama made history by becoming the first Indian to win two gold medals in a single edition.

On the last day of competition, India’s medal surge continued, with shuttlers accounting for nine of the nation’s 94 medals.

In the single SL3 category, reigning Paralympic champion shuttler Pramod Bhagat won a gold medal after defeating fellow countryman Nitesh Kumar 22–20, 21–19 in the final.

“I think Nitesh Kumar played the game of his life, but he ended up with a silver. He is a brilliant player and pushes me to the edge, which he did today,” Bhagat remarked, extending his compliments to Nitesh Kumar.

“For some reason, even when I was down, I never gave losing a consideration; I always believed that I could catch up and win. I made it happen by concentrating on one thing at a time,” he said.

IAS officer Suhas Lalinakere Yathiraj, who placed second in the Tokyo Paralympics, improved on his bronze finish from the previous competition by taking first place in the SL4 final. Bronze went to Sukant Kadam in the same competition.

In the women’s SU5 final, Thulasmathi Murugesan won 21-19, 21-19 to secure the coveted yellow medal, fending off a challenge from local shuttler Yang Qiuxia. Manisha Ramadass of India also won the bronze medal.

Men’s doubles SL3-SLF4: Bhagat and Sukant took home the bronze, while Nitesh and Tarun took home the gold.

In the men’s SH6 final, the reigning Paralympic champion Krishna Nagar lost to Chu Man Kai of Hong Kong 10-21, 21-8, and 11-21, settling for a silver medal.

In athletics, javelin throwers Pradeep Kumar (25.94m) and Laxit (21.20m) won silver and bronze in the F54 event with personal best throws, while Raman Sharma dominated the men’s 1500m T38 race with a new Asian and Games record time of 4:20.80s.

Discuss thrower Lakshmi also made it to the podium, taking home the bronze in the women’s F37.38 final after recording a personal best throw of 22.55 meters.

In a shoot-off, archer Rakesh Kumar prevailed over Iran’s Alisin Manshaezadeh 144(10)-144(9) to take home the silver medal in the men’s compound event.