India's star archer Sheetal Devi made the headlines with a stunning performance on Day 1 of the Paris Olympics 2024 on Thursday, August 29. Sheetal kicked off her campaign by scoring 703 points in the rankings round of the women's individual compound event and missed the world record by just one point.
The 17-year-old Sheetal, the only participant without hands at the 17th Summer Paralympics, stunned the crowd with her personal best record. She dominated the top spot till the very last round and finished second behind Turkey's Cure Girdi Oznur who scripted a world record by scoring 704 points.
Women's individual compound archery ranking round results
- Cure Girdi Oznur (Turkey) - 704 points (56 10s and 29 Xs)
- Sheetal Devi (India) - 703 points (59 10s and 24 Xs)
- Fatemeh Hemmati (Iran) - 696 points (48 10s and 22 Xs)
- Grinham Jodie (Great Britain) - 693 points (47 10s and 14 Xs)
- Gogel Jane Karla (Brazil) - 691 points (47 10s and 15 Xs)
Sheetal directly secured the pre quarter-final qualification due to her standings in the ranking round. The experienced Indian archer Sarita finished the ranking round with a score of 682 and will be facing Malaysia's Nur Jannaton Abdul Jalil in the round of 32 on Friday.
Meanwhile, India failed to open its medal account on Day 1 of the sporting events at the Paris Games 2024. Jyoti Gaderiya became the first Indian para cyclist to compete in the Summer Paralympics but failed to secure the final qualification after finishing last in the women's C1- 3000 m Individual pursuit qualifying.
In another potential medal match on Thursday, Aruna Tanwar, India's top Para Taekwondo athlete suffered a defeat against Nurcihan Ekinci of Turkey in the women's K44-47kg round of 16 clash. Tanwar was India's one of the top medal hopefuls in Paris but suffered an injury during her bout against Ekinci which cost her an early exit.
