• Source:JND
Add as a preferred

After her bronze medal triumph in the mixed team compound archery competition at the Paris Paralympics 2024 alongside Rakesh Kumar, India's armless archer Sheetal Devi was overwhelmed with raw emotions and could not hold back her tears.

The duo of Rakesh and Sheetal showcased their determination and skills in a closely contested match against Italy's Eleonora Sarti and Matteo Bonacina to register a narrow 156-155 victory on Monday.

ALSO READ: England Captain Jos Buttler In Doubt For T20I Series Against Australia Due To Calf Injury

The 17-year-old archer became the first Indian woman to win a medal in archery at the Paralympics. With the medal, India took home only its second medal in archery in the Games. Three years ago Harvinder Singh bagged an individual bronze medal at the Tokyo Games.

With just four arrows left and trailing by a point, the Indian duo was under immense pressure as Sarti continued to perform suberbly, though her partner Bonacina was struggling to take good aim. But Sheetal and Rakesh held their nerve, producing a magnificent performance to clinch the bronze medal.

The medal comes as a significant comeback for the Indian duo of Sheetal and Rakesh, who had earlier suffered a devastating loss in the semifinals in a shoot-off against Iran's Fatemeh Hemmati and Hadi Nori.

ALSO READ: Paris Paralympics 2024: Nithya Sre Sivan Bags Bronze Medal In Para-badminton SH6 Category

The bronze medal is the highlight of the young archer's career, who was born in 2007 with phocomelia, a rare congenital disorder leading to underdeveloped limbs. The condition resulted in her arms not fully forming.

Meanwhile, the 39-year-old Rakesh suffered a spinal cord injury and after recovering in 2009 he realised he would be wheelchair-bound for life, which plunged him into depression and even forced him to contemplate taking his own life.