AHMEDABAD, Sept 9: Paralympics champion Harvinder Singh and world No. 1 Sheetal Devi spearheaded India’s impressive finish at the World Archery Para Series Stage III, with the hosts winning two gold and four bronze medals on the final day here on Wednesday.
Reigning world champion Sheetal held her nerve in a dramatic shoot-off to clinch gold in the para compound women’s individual event, while Harvinder and Bhawna combined to win the para recurve mixed team title.
Harvinder and Bhawna dominated China’s Liang Qiurong and Xia Lei in the mixed team final, securing a convincing 6-0 victory.
The Indian pair won the opening set 35-31, followed by a 36-33 win in the second before completing a clean sweep with a 34-32 victory in the third.
Bhawna later added a bronze medal after defeating compatriot Rajshree Rathod 6-0 in an all-Indian para recurve women’s bronze-medal playoff.
Sheetal then produced a composed display against Kazakhstan’s Aizada Seidan in a closely fought compound women’s individual final.
Both archers began with perfect 30s and remained level at 59 after the second end. Aizada took a one-point lead in the third end after shooting 28 against Sheetal’s 27.
The fourth end ended 29-29, leaving Sheetal trailing by one point heading into the final end. She responded with a 29 against Aizada’s 28 to level the scores at 144-144 and force a shoot-off.
Sheetal delivered under pressure, hitting a perfect 10, while Aizada managed a nine to hand the Indian archer the gold.
The victory gave Sheetal a medal double after she had earlier teamed up with Toman Kumar to secure bronze in the compound mixed team event.
The Indian duo defeated Iraq’s Sara Al Hamid and Abbas Kadim 157-145 in the bronze-medal playoff. Sheetal and Toman dropped only three points across four ends, shooting 39 in each of the first three ends before finishing with a perfect 40.
India also secured bronze in the para compound women’s individual event, with Sarita edging China’s Wang Huiting 141-140.
Toman Kumar added another bronze in the para compound men’s individual event, defeating Iraq’s Abbas Kadhim 143-138. It was his second medal of the competition.
India thus ended its Stage III campaign on a strong note with two gold and four bronze medals.
