Bhubaneswar: Racing from the back, defending champion Sheetal Devi successfully bagged her 2nd gold medal at the Khelo India Para Games at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Delhi on Sunday. Pitted against Odisha’s special quadruple amputee archer in Payal Nag, Jammu and Kashmir’s Sheetal triumphed 109-103 in their compound archery open final encounter.
The extreme sunny conditions in the national capital have been uncompromising but it didn’t deter the competitive spirit of the archers.
All eyes were on the women’s compound gold medal match. Sheetal Devi started with a score of 8 and 7 while Payal started off with double 10s. Payal, 17, however lost the upper hand in the third round where she shot a 7 for the first time and Sheetal got back to her consistent best of 9s and 10s. The deciding fifth round saw Sheetal clinching the gold at the Khelo India Para Games 2025.
“Firstly, Payal played very well in the final and with her continuous hard work, she will definitely get a medal for India soon. Personally, I am grateful for all the blessings bestowed by Mata Rani that I won my second gold medal at the Khelo India Para Games,” Sheetal told.
The soft-spoken Payal, who radiates childish innocence, spoke about the technical aspects following her competition in her first Khelo India Para Games. “Earlier, I used to shoot the arrows with two devices in my prosthetic legs but now, I’m shooting with just one leg. It was a problem adjusting but I still reached the final despite the discomfort and also there were a lot of windy conditions today. But I am happy to have competed in the final and got the silver.
As per her coach Kuldeep Vedwan, Payal got a rebirth in para-archery after getting the new device a month back. “Since she is the first woman archer in the world who doesn’t have all the four limbs, it was a challenge for me to create an additional device inside her prosthetic leg. She now uses just one leg to shoot her arrows.
“Since the device was put in just a month back, Payal’s journey in para-archery started from scratch yet again. With all the hard work and dedication she put in the last month, she deservedly got the silver today,” said Kuldeep.
Odisha’s Swastik Sahoo won a bronze medal for Odisha in the Men’s T-37 200m event clocking 26.44 seconds. The gold medal was won by Rakesh Bhatt from Gujarat (24.52 sec), while Dhawan from Delhi (26.36 sec) claimed the silver medal.
Another Odisha thrower Ranjit Chanda bagged a bronze in Men’s T-46 Javelin Throw with an impressive throw of 55.12 meters.
The gold medal was won by Paralympian Rinku from Haryana, who delivered a remarkable throw of 60.96 meters, while Mahendra Kumar Sharma from Rajasthan clinched the silver medal with a throw of 56.40 meters.
