Sheetal Devi defended her women’s compound individual title at the Asian Para Games 2026, beating Singapore’s Alim Nur Syahidah 142-139
The 19-year-old overturned a four-point deficit to secure gold, adding to her compound mixed team title with Toman Kumar
Sheetal has now won two gold medals and one silver at the ongoing Games, including silver in women’s doubles with Payal Nag
India’s Sheetal Devi successfully defended her women’s compound individual archery title at the Asian Para Games 2026, defeating Singapore’s Alim Nur Syahidah 142-139 in the final on Thursday to secure her second gold medal of the day.
The 19-year-old produced a remarkable turnaround after falling four points behind in the early stages of the contest.
Her victory at Okazaki Chuo Sogo Park Multipurpose Square also took her medal tally at the ongoing Games to three, having earlier won gold in the compound mixed team event with Toman Kumar and silver in women’s doubles alongside Payal Nag.
The final brought back memories of the Hangzhou 2023 edition, where Sheetal had also defeated Alim to claim the individual title.
This time, however, the Singaporean archer threatened to reverse the result after gaining the upper hand in the opening two ends, each consisting of six arrows.
Sheetal initially struggled to keep pace with her opponent as Alim established a four-point lead. The Indian then changed the course of the match with a superb display of accuracy, landing six arrows in the 10-ring across the next two ends.
Three of those shots hit the X-ring, the innermost section of the target, which helped her take control of the final.
Her scoring run turned a four-point deficit into a two-point advantage heading into the decisive end, leaving Alim with a difficult task to reclaim the lead.
Sheetal scored 27 points from her final three arrows, registering three consecutive 9s to put herself in a strong position to seal the title. Alim needed to match or better that effort, but her scores of nine, eight and nine added up to 26 points. Sheetal eventually prevailed by three points, finishing with 142 against the Singaporean’s 139.
The individual gold came shortly after Sheetal and Toman had triumphed in the compound mixed team final. The Indian pair defeated Indonesia’s Teodora Audi Ayudia Ferelly and Ken Swagumilang 151-148 to claim the title.
They had also set a world record during qualification, accumulating 1,402 points to surpass the previous mark by two points.
Their performance laid the foundation for the mixed team gold, before Sheetal returned to the range to complete her individual campaign with another victory.
Sheetal has now won two gold medals and one silver at the Asian Para Games 2026. Her silver came in the women’s doubles competition, where she partnered Odisha’s Payal Nag, a quadruple amputee.
Born without arms, Sheetal has developed a distinctive method of shooting that allows her to compete against the world's leading para-archers. She uses her feet and legs to position the compound bow, while her shoulder and jaw help her draw and release the string.
