Paris Paralympics: Sheetal Devi sets sights on gold in debut

After emerging as one of the dominant forces in compound events in recent years, India's armless archer Sheetal Devi is looking to grab the spotlight in her debut Paralympic Game at the picturesque Esplanade des Invalides in Paris on 29 August.

The ranking round starts the Para archery action with the first medal events scheduled for 31 August.

Around 140 athletes will be vying for the nine gold medals on offer over eight days. China were the table toppers at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, Hangzhou 2022 Asian Para Games and last year’s World Championships.

They will once again look to dominate the field followed by other Asian nations - Iran, India and South Korea among others. Sheetal rose to prominence after her extraordinary performances at the 2023 World Championships and the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Para Games, where she won gold medals.

Her fellow teammates Sarita and Rakesh Kumar will be hoping to put up a good show in a mixed team event. The duo are reigning world champions and Hangzhou 2022 winners.

The Asian Paralympic Committee’s newest member Bangladesh will make their debut at these Games with all their hopes resting on Joma Akter in the women compound individual event.

She won the nation’s first-ever Paralympic quota in the final qualifier in Dubai. Para archery was one of the eight Paralympic sports contested at the inaugural Games in Rome in 1960.

In recurve men's individual event, Iran’s Rio 2016 champion and two-time Asian Para Games champion Gholamreza Rahimi and Mohammad Reza Arab Ameri, 2023 World Championships medallists, will look to put their nation among the medals after their recent campaigns.

China’s Wu Chunyan and Wu Yang will be carrying the Asian hopes in the recurve women's individual after Iran’s three-time Paralympic champion Zahra Nemati will skip the Games.

Chunyan is a four-time Paralympic medallist and will be aiming her first individual gold in Paris after her three gold at 2023 Worlds while Yang is a Worlds and Asian Para Games medallist.

In the W1 category, two-time Paralympic champion Chen Minyi and Zhang Lu, the reigning world champion from China, will be among the favourites for the podium finish in the women’s event.

Meanwhile, Zhang Tianxin and Han Guifei will be hoping to maintain their momentum after their Asian Para Games golden show, in W1 men events. South Korea’s Kim Ok-Geum and Park Hong-jo will also be ones to watch out for after their performances at the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Para Games. Ok-geum already has a Paralympic silver at Rio 2016 along with Koo Dong-sub.