Paralympics Archery in Paris 2024
Paralympics Archery in Paris 2024: Sheetal Devi, the armless marvel, tumbled out of the last 16, ending Sarita Kumari’s incredible run in the quarterfinals.
Sarita Kumari’s incredible journey ended in the archery competition’s quarterfinals, and armless marvel Sheetal Devi lost in the last 16 of the compound women’s open category at the Paris Paralympics 2024, causing sadness for India. Sarita of Faridabad, the ninth seed, had a dominant performance in the first and second rounds before her incredible run was ended in the round of eight by top-seeded Oznur Cure Girdi of Korea. With a score of 704 out of 720 possible points, Oznur broke the world record to win the qualifying round. She scored three perfect 10s in the second to take a commanding five-point lead.
Despite Sarita’s flawless fourth end to match Oznur’s thirty, the Turkish archer maintained a four-point lead thanks to her consistent beginnings, capping the match with a 29 in the fifth end.
Using her toes to draw the arrow, Sheetal made a mistake in the second end, missing the 7-point red ring and losing to Chile’s Mariana Zuniga, the winner of the Tokyo silver medal, 137-138 in the pre-quarterfinals.
With a bye into the last-16 round, all eyes were on Asian Para Games double gold medallist Sheetal, who had also surpassed the previous world mark of 698 by shooting 703.
Beginning the first set on a high note, Sheetal won 29–28 after hitting two X drops one point.
She did, however, get the much-needed opening when she made a 7-pointer in the second arrow, winning the second end 27-26 to equalize the score (55-all).
Over the next eight arrows, the two competitors were even at one point, but Mariana pulled ahead with the last arrow, hitting a nine, while Sheetal, making his Paralympic debut, missed the eight ring.
Sarita, the ninth seed, defeated Eleonora Sarti of Italy 141–135 in a one-sided match during her pre-quarterfinals on the same day that second seed Sheetal was eliminated early.
Sarita, ranked ninth and the winner of the Asian Para Games silver medal team the previous year, led by four points after just one end of play.
After she shot one X (closer to the center) in the second end, she extended her lead to five points, and there was no turning back.
Sarita held her composure and sealed the deal with two strong ends, but her higher-ranked Italian opponent managed two 10s and took the third end.
In her opening round match, Sarita defeated Nur Jannaton Abdul Jalil of Malaysia 138-124.
In the open class, archers aim at an 80cm five-ring target composed of the 10-6 point bands from a seated position at a distance of 50 meters.