Asian Para Games 2026: Sheetal Devi & Swati Chaudhary Arch Their Way into Finals, Assure 2 more Medals for India

Nagoya, Oct 20: India's para archers Sheetal Devi and Swati Chaudhary advanced to the finals of their respective events at the Asian Para Games 2026 in Nagoya on Tuesday, assuring the country of at least two medals in para archery.

Defending champion Sheetal continued her impressive run after equalling the world record and setting a new Asian record in the qualification round. The 19-year-old defeated Japan's Shinohara Aya 145-137 in the women's compound semi-final to book her place in the gold-medal match against Singapore's Alim Nur Syahidah.

Swati, meanwhile, secured at least a silver medal on her Asian Para Games debut after defeating South Korea's Eunhee Lee 6-2 in the women's W1 semi-final. She will face China's Mengkan in the final as she aims to cap her maiden campaign with gold. The W1 category features athletes with significant impairments affecting functional strength, range of motion or limb function.

Indian Mixed Teams Advance to Semifinals

India also strengthened its campaign in the mixed team events, with both the recurve and compound pairs progressing to the semifinals.

Paralympic gold medallist Harvinder Singh and Bhawna registered a convincing 6-0 victory over Thailand in the recurve mixed team quarter-final to advance to the last four.

In the compound mixed team event, world number one Sheetal teamed up with Toman Kumar to defeat Japan 154-147, securing India's place in the semifinals. Sheetal, who was born without arms, will also compete alongside Payal Nag in the women's compound doubles semifinals later in the day.

Setbacks in Individual Events

Despite the progress in the team and women's events, India suffered setbacks in several individual contests.

Harvinder narrowly missed out on a place in the men's recurve semifinals, losing 5-6 to China's Yun Duo in a shoot-off after a closely contested quarter-final. Bhawna also exited the women's recurve competition after a 2-6 defeat against Mongolia's Selengee Demberel.

In the men's compound event, Toman Kumar lost 144-149 to China's Ai Xinliang in the semifinals. Ai had earlier defeated another Indian archer, Shyam Sundar Swami, 147-146 in the quarter-finals.

With Sheetal and Swati through to their respective finals and both Indian mixed teams reaching the semifinals, India remained in contention for further podium finishes as the para archery competition continued in Nagoya.