Indian para-archery sensation Sheetal Devi produced a performance for the ages on Monday, equalling the world record in the women's compound archery ranking round at the 2026 Asian Para Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan — a statement start to India's campaign at the continental showpiece.
The 19-year-old from Jammu and Kashmir scored 704 points out of a possible 720 at the Okazaki Chuo Sogo Park Multipurpose Square, matching the world record jointly held by Turkey's Oznur Cure Girdi, who set the benchmark at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.
With the performance, Sheetal also shattered her own Asian record of 698 points, set in Bangkok, Thailand, in March this year, improving it by six points, and bettered her previous Asian Para Games record of 680 points set in Hangzhou in 2023.
The numbers behind the round tell the story of near-flawless execution. Sheetal scored 352 points in each half of the qualification round, registering 57 perfect 10s from her 72 arrows, including 32 Xs — shots landing in the innermost scoring zone of the target. She finished first in the standings, ahead of the entire field, and the Asian Paralympic Committee's own social media handle marked the moment with a simple line: "Signed, sealed, delivered."
Sheetal's achievement is remarkable for what it represents beyond the scoreboard. Born without arms due to a rare congenital condition, she has developed a distinctive technique to compete at the highest level — holding the bow with her foot and using her shoulder, jaw and feet to position and release the arrow. That she has taken this technique to the very top of the sport's record books is a measure of both her precision and her consistency.
Her rise through the ranks has been rapid and decorated. She won two gold medals and one silver at the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Para Games, added a bronze at the Paris 2024 Paralympics, and followed that up by winning the women's individual compound world title in 2025 — a run of success that has made her the face of Indian para-archery.
Her world-record-equalling round in Nagoya confirms her status as the reigning Asian Games champion and one of the favourites for the individual title.
The Aichi-Nagoya Games themselves are the fourth edition of the Asian Para Games, bringing together the continent's elite para athletes across multiple sports. For India, the stakes are as much about depth as about headline stars: the archery squad's performance on Day 1, with records falling in both the compound women's and women's ranking events and strong showings in the men's draw, suggests the pipeline of talent behind Sheetal is healthy.
Harvinder Singh, who finished fifth in the men's compound ranking round with 631 points, is himself an established name — and with Vijay Sundi seventh on 630, India has multiple routes to the podium.
The record also has a pleasing circularity. At the Paris 2024 Paralympics, Sheetal had scored 703 points — surpassing the then-world record of 698 held by Great Britain's Phoebe Paterson Pine, only for Girdi to go one point further with 704 and claim the record. In Nagoya, Sheetal has now matched that benchmark, drawing level with the Turkish archer at the top of the sport's all-time list.
India's joy in the women's compound event was doubled by an impressive debut from Payal Nag. The Asian Games debutant, a quadruple amputee from Odisha, scored 675 points to finish joint fifth in the qualification standings, recording 12 Xs and 20 10s, and improving from 334 points in the first half to 341 in the second.
Payal's performance carried an extra edge: she had shot to prominence in April this year when she stunned Sheetal on her way to winning gold at the World Archery Para Series in Bangkok, proving that the competition within the Indian camp is as fierce as any rivalry on the international circuit.
Together, Sheetal and Payal topped the Para compound women's doubles ranking round with a combined score of 1,379 points — 704 from Sheetal and 675 from Payal — earning the Indian pair a direct berth in the semifinals and strengthening the country's medal prospects in both the individual and team events.
The good news extended to other Indian archers on the opening day. Swati Chaudhari set a new Asian Para Games record with 648 points in the women's ranking round, surpassing the previous mark of 627 set by China's Minyi Chen at the Hangzhou Games. In the men's compound ranking round, Harvinder Singh finished fifth with 631 points and Vijay Sundi finished seventh with 630 points, keeping India well represented across the medal events.
The Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Para Games, being held in Japan, carry added significance for the Indian contingent. News on AIR reported that more than 150 athletes from India are aiming to cross the 100-medal mark at the Games — a target that reflects the country's growing stature in para sport.
Sheetal's record-equalling start has set exactly the tone the contingent's leadership would have wanted: a world-class performance on the very first day, in the marquee event, with the team events still to come.
For Indian para sport, moments like Sheetal's carry a weight that goes beyond medals. Her journey — from a young girl in Jammu and Kashmir born with a rare condition to the joint world record holder in her sport — has already inspired a generation of young athletes with disabilities. Each new record she sets pushes the boundaries of what is considered possible, and Monday's 704 in Nagoya is the latest proof that those boundaries are hers to redefine.
The qualification round, however, is only the beginning. The ranking round sets the seedings for the elimination brackets, and Sheetal will now carry the top seed into the head-to-head rounds where the medals are decided. If Monday's form is any indication, the rest of the field has been put on notice: the road to gold in Nagoya runs through the Indian teenager who shoots with her feet and scores like no one else in the world.
(Reporting based on PTI via Rediff, The Telegraph India, Public TV English and The Free Press Journal.)