Sheetal Devi (L) and Rakesh Kumar at Paris Paralympics 2024
The Indian duo of Sheetal Devi and Rakesh Kumar staged a remarkable comeback after the heartbreak in the semifinals to claim the bronze medal with a close 156-155 win over Italy’s Eleonora Sarti and Matteo Bonacina in the mixed team compound archery competition at the Paralympics on Monday.
It is only the second time that India has won a medal in Paralympics in archery. Harvinder Singh bagged a bronze at the Tokyo edition of the Games three years ago.
India won after the 17-year-old Sheetal’s shot was upgraded following a revision.
With just four arrows left, the Indians were trailing by a point with Sarti displaying awesome form even as her partner Bonacina struggled a bit. But the Indian pair held on to emerge winners in the end.
It was a great comeback by the Indians after they went down in shoot-off following a dramatic semifinal clash against Iran’s Fatemeh Hemmati and Hadi Nori.
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