J&K’s Sheetal, Rakesh clinch gold in Archery

Asian Para Games 2023

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Oct 26: The unstoppable 16 year-old Jammu and Kashmir’s Para Archer has once again made the country and Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory proud by winning Gold medal in Archery compound mixed team event at Asian Para Games in China with Rakesh Kumar.
India’s Sheetal Devi and Rakesh Kumar combined to win gold in compound mixed team Open Archery event after beating home favourites China (151-149) in a close encounter at Asian Para Games 2023 here today.  After winning two silver and one bronze medal yesterday, the Indian Archery contingent finally won gold. Both Sheetal and Rakesh have now won two medals each at the ongoing continental meet.
The duo started their campaign by registering a comfortable 155-141 win over Kazakhstan’s Maxatgul and Arlan. In the following round, the pair combined to defeat Iran’s Maryam and Hadi 155-145. The Indian pair did not find any difficulty until the final as they defeated both their opponents with ease. However, the battle in the final was way different to the other matches.
Both the archers will now be in action in their respective individual events. Sheetal is scheduled to take on Sarita for a place in the final of women’s open compound archery. Meanwhile, Rakesh will clash against Chinese Taipei’s Chung-hung in the men’s singles compound archery semifinals.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has congratulated Para Archers Sheetal Devi and Rakesh Kumar for winning Gold medal in Compound mixed team event. The Prime Minister posted on X, “It is a Glorious Gold for our Para Archery Mixed Team. Congrats to Sheetal Devi and @RakeshK21328176 for their extraordinary performance. This glory is a testament to their precision, dedication and exceptional skills.”