Para archer Sheetal Devi gets a perfect 10 in playoff to win gold

Sheetal Devi produced a stunning performance at the World Archery Para Series 2026 in Ahmedabad, winning gold in the women’s compound event and underlining her status as one of India’s brightest para-archery stars.

The 19-year-old defeated Kazakhstan’s Aizada Seidan in a dramatic gold-medal clash that ended level at 144-144 after the regulation arrows. The contest went into a shoot-off and it seemed to barely faze Sheetal. She calmly fired a perfect 10 into the inner ring, putting the pressure squarely on Seidan. The Indian contingent around the range sensed victory even before the Kazakh archer took her final shot. Seidan could manage only a nine, triggering celebrations as Sheetal clinched gold on the final day of the World Archery Para Series Stage III in Ahmedabad.

Impressive haul

India finished the competition with an impressive haul of 15 medals — four gold, three silver and eight bronze.

Sheetal also made her mark in the compound mixed team event alongside Rakesh Kumar, with the Indian duo setting a new world record in qualification.

They amassed 1,400 points, improving their previous world record by one point. Sheetal contributed 698 points, while Rakesh added 702.

Rakesh was later replaced by Toman Kumar for the elimination rounds. Sheetal and Toman went on to win bronze after beating Iraq 157-145. Their bid for a place in the gold-medal match ended after they drew with China, before losing the subsequent shoot-off.

Bhawna and Harvinder Singh added another gold for India in the recurve mixed team event. The Indian pair defeated China’s Liang Qiurong and Xia Lei in straight sets, winning 35-31, 36-33 and 34-32.

Bhawna also claimed bronze in the women’s individual recurve event.

Toman Kumar secured another bronze for India in the men’s individual compound competition after beating Iraq’s Abbas Kadhim 143-138. He had earlier suffered a narrow defeat to Indonesia’s Ken Swagumilang.

Toman had already teamed up with Shyam Sunder Swami to win gold in the compound men’s doubles event, where they defeated Iraq 152-139.

Harvinder Singh and Vijay Sundi also struck gold in the recurve men’s doubles, beating Slovakia 6-2.