Sheetal Devi, Toman Kumar win compound mixed team gold at Asian Para Games

India’s campaign at the Asian Para Games reached a high point on Thursday as Sheetal Devi and Toman Kumar secured the country’s first archery gold medal of the ongoing competition in Nagoya, defeating Indonesia’s Teodora Audi Ayudia Ferelly and Ken Swagumilang 151-148 in the compound mixed team final. The top-seeded Indian duo held the lead for the entirety of the match, opening with a 38-37 advantage in the first end before stretching it to 77-73 in the second. Although the Indonesian pair narrowed the deficit in the third end, both teams scored 38 points in the last end to cement the three-point margin of victory.

That triumph arrived alongside a historic silver medal for Swati Chaudhary in the women's individual W1 category, where she narrowly lost 4-6 to China’s Cen Mengkan. Swati, a Meerut native training under Athens Olympian Satyadev Prasad at Gurukul Archery Academy, established a milestone as the first Indian archer to medal in the severe impairment classification. Having previously claimed bronze at the World Archery Para Series in Ahmedabad, Swati took a 4-2 lead after three sets before Cen posted a flawless 30-point fourth set featuring three consecutive 10s to level the match and eventually take the decider 28-21.

From Adversity to World Records on the Archery Range

The path to the compound mixed team gold required resilience under immense pressure, particularly during a tense semifinal against Chinese Taipei. After building a 112-103 advantage through three ends against Lee Yun-Hsien and Yang Jyun-Kai, Toman missed the scoring zone with his final arrow. However, they held on to win 142-141 against Lee Yun-Hsien and Yang Jyun-Kai.

Sheetal and Toman entered the tournament in peak form, having set a world record of 1,402 points in the qualification round to surpass the previous mark by two points. For Sheetal, who was born without arms and positions her compound bow with her feet and legs while using her shoulder and jaw to draw and release the string, the victory marked her second consecutive mixed team gold at the Asian Para Games following her 2023 Hangzhou title alongside Rakesh Kumar.

Sheetal, Toman Clinch Gold in Mixed Team Archery, Swati Creates History with Silver at Asian Para Games

PTI via lokmattimes.com

Toman brings a remarkable personal history to the sport. The 31-year-old CRPF constable and former CoBRA commando from Nawagaon, Balod district in Chhattisgarh, took up para archery after losing his left leg in an improvised explosive device blast during an anti-Maoist operation in Lohardaga district in February 2022. He ascended to become a world champion in 2025 and reached the top of the world rankings in men's compound archery.

Medal Haul Expands Across Disciplines in Nagoya

India's broader contingent capitalized on strong performances across multiple venues on Thursday, pushing the nation's medal tally higher following a Wednesday total of 62 medals, which included 14 golds. In badminton, Paris Paralympics champion Nitesh Kumar advanced to the men's singles SL3 final by defeating Indonesia’s M Imran 21-19, 21-16 in 52 minutes. Sanjana Kumari claimed bronze in the women’s singles SL3 after falling to Japan’s Shino Kawai 7-21, 9-21, while Abhijeet Sakhuja and Suhas Yathiraj secured bronze medals in the men's singles SL4. Suhas dropped a tight semifinal against Indonesia’s Fredy Setiawan 21-23, 21-8, 15-21, and Abhijeet fell to compatriot Naveen Sivakumar 21-13, 21-15.

Table tennis added another podium finish as Bhavina and Shubham captured bronze in the mixed doubles after a 1-3 semifinal defeat to South Korea’s Yeongjin Jang and Migyu Lee by scores of 6-11, 11-8, 5-11, 9-11. This represented India's sixth table tennis medal of the Games and the second for Bhavina, who previously earned bronze in women's singles Class 4-5. Meanwhile, Krishna Nagar and Nithya Sre secured a badminton mixed doubles SH6 bronze after dropping their semifinal 14-21, 18-21 to Indonesia’s Rina Marlina and Subhan.

Fans and followers can track live updates, schedules, and scores across para archery, para shooting, para badminton, and para athletics as Indian athletes continue competing through the remainder of the Games.