Paris 2024 Paralympics: Sheetal Devi-Rakesh Kumar win bronze medal in mixed team compound archery
India’s Sheetal Devi and Rakesh Kumar clinched the bronze medal in the mixed compound open archery event at the Paris 2024 Paralympics on Monday.
The duo secured the victory in a nail-biting match against Italy's Eleonora Sarti and Matteo Bonacina, winning by a single point with a scoreline of 156-155.
The Indian archers hit four perfect 10s in the final set to come from behind and secure the medal. The Indian pair also equalled the Paralympic record of 156 in the process.
Sheetal Dev, at 17, became India’s youngest Paralympic medallist in history. She was the only female armless archer at Paris 2024.
For 39-year-old Rakesh Kumar, his first Paralympic medal comes after years of consistency at the top level. He is a gold medallist at the Para World Championship and Asian Para Games.
Rakesh suffered a debilitating spinal cord injury that left him in a wheelchair just when he was getting financially independent to support his ageing parents. He battled depression and came back from a point where he contemplated taking his own life.
Sheetal Devi, who uses her legs to shoot, was born with phocomelia, a rare congenital disorder leading to underdeveloped limbs. The condition resulted in her arms not fully forming.
Sheetal and Rakesh dominated Indonesia's Teodara Ferelly and Ken Swagumilang in the quarter-finals to win 154-143. The Indian duo lost a semi-final on shoot-off against the Islamic Republic of Iran after both teams were tied at 152.
This was India's second medal in archery in the history of the Paralympic Games. Harvinder Singh won India's first-ever Paralympics medal in archery after clinching the bronze in the Tokyo 2020 men's individual recurve open event.
Earlier, Sheetal Devi finished second in the ranking round of the women's individual compound open archery event to advance directly to the round of 16. Her run in the individual event ended in the opening round, which the Indian lost by one point.