Sheetal Devi Equals World Record With 704 as India Starts Asian Para Games Campaign

A record score leads India's opening day

Sheetal Devi scored 704 out of 720 in women's compound archery qualification on October 19, equalling the world record as India began its Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Para Games campaign. The 19-year-old from Jammu and Kashmir improved the previous Asian record of 698 by six points and finished 21 points ahead of her nearest rival.

India's opening performances extended across several sports. Swati Chaudhary led the women's W1 archery ranking round with a Games record of 648, while Mona Agarwal set a Games qualification record in women's 10m air rifle SH1. In judo, Kokila defeated China's reigning world champion Yi Liu to reach the women's J2 category final for athletes weighing under 52kg, securing at least silver.

Sheetal's score matched the world record set by Turkiye's Oznur Girdi at the Paris 2024 Paralympics. Her performance also helped India finish first in women's compound team qualification alongside Payal Nag, giving the pair a direct place in the semifinals.

The competition followed the October 18 opening ceremony at Paloma Mizuho Stadium in Nagoya, where a record 45 countries and regions gathered for Japan's first Asian Para Games.

How Sheetal reached 704

Sheetal scored 352 in each of the two halves of the qualification round, shooting 72 arrows at a distance of 50 metres. With a maximum of 10 points available per arrow, her total left her just 16 points short of a perfect round.

She recorded 57 maximum scores, including 32 Xs. An X is an arrow in the innermost part of the target's central scoring area. It still earns 10 points, while the X count helps separate archers whose totals are tied. Her remaining 25 maximum scores were also worth 10 points.

Singapore's Noor Syahidah Alim finished second with 683, followed by China's Xueqing Xu on 680 and Bangladesh's Joma Akter on 676. Sheetal's 21 point advantage over Alim showed how far ahead she finished in a discipline where a single point can separate competitors.

The Paris Paralympic bronze medallist had raised the Asian record to 698 in March. Her latest score also improved by 24 points on the Asian Para Games record of 680 that she set at Hangzhou in 2023. At that edition, she won individual and mixed team gold, together with silver in doubles.

Qualification determines the order in which archers enter the elimination rounds. Sheetal's next task is to turn her leading position into victories in direct contests, with the women's compound individual medal matches scheduled for October 22.

Payal Nag strengthens India's team challenge

Payal Nag scored 675 on her Asian Para Games debut, sharing fifth place on points with Indonesia's Teodora Ferelly Audi Ayudia. The archer from Odisha, who has had all four limbs amputated, arrived with a major international victory already behind her.

In April, Payal beat Sheetal on her way to gold at the World Archery Para Series in Bangkok. In Japan, their individual scores combined to put India at the top of the women's compound team standings.

Sheetal's 704 and Payal's 675 produced a total of 1,379, compared with China's 1,338. That gave India a lead of 41 points and a direct semifinal berth. The Indian pair were due to face the winners of the quarterfinal between Thailand, seeded fifth, and Kazakhstan, seeded fourth.

India therefore gained two opportunities from the same qualification session: strong individual positions and a shorter route through the team draw. The women's compound doubles medal matches are scheduled for October 21.

Chaudhary sets a record as recurve archers advance

Swati Chaudhary added another leading qualification result by scoring 648 in the women's W1 ranking round. Her total was a Games record and placed her first in the event.

W1 is a para archery category for athletes with impairments affecting both their arms and legs. Classification groups athletes according to how their impairment affects participation, allowing competition within defined sporting categories.

Harvinder Singh finished fifth in the men's recurve ranking round, while Vijay Sundi placed seventh. Their positions determined their places in the elimination draw, with further rounds scheduled before the individual medal matches on October 24.

Compound and recurve refer to different types of bow. A compound bow uses a system of cables and pulleys, while a recurve bow has limbs that curve away from the archer at their tips. The Games hold separate competitions for these disciplines and for W1.

Mona Agarwal leads the rifle qualifiers

Mona Agarwal scored 629.1 in women's 10m air rifle SH1 qualification, breaking the Asian Para Games qualification record. Avani Lekhara qualified second with 626.4, putting two Indian shooters into the final.

Mona finished 2.7 points ahead of Avani. Air rifle scores can include decimal values, which distinguish how close a shot lands to the exact centre of the target and allow small differences in accuracy to affect the standings.

SH1 is a shooting classification for athletes who can support the firearm without a separate shooting stand. Qualification selects the finalists; the final then decides the medals through a new scoring contest.

Rakesh Nidagundi and Swaroop Unhalkar also advanced in men's 10m air rifle SH1, placing seventh and eighth in qualification. Unhalkar subsequently finished fourth in the final, one place outside the medals. The women's final results and Nidagundi's final placing had not been announced in the opening updates.

Kokila defeats a world champion to reach the final

Kokila secured India's clearest early medal guarantee by beating reigning world champion Yi Liu in the women's J2 semifinal for athletes weighing under 52kg. Reaching the final assured her of at least silver.

Kyrgyzstan's Aibike Ulanbek Kyzy was named as her opponent in the gold medal contest, scheduled for 12:30 p.m. on the opening day. Kokila's victory over Liu moved her from medal contention into a direct contest for the title.

Kapil Parmar advanced to the men's J1 semifinals for athletes weighing under 70kg. J1 and J2 are para judo classifications based on the extent of an athlete's visual impairment, while the weight categories provide a further division for competition.

Kokila's progress carried a different immediate consequence from India's archery and shooting qualification results: she had already secured a place on the podium. The archers and rifle qualifiers still had medal deciding rounds ahead.

Badminton and table tennis bring more opening wins

Sukant Kadam, Abhijeet Sakhuja, Suhas Lalinakere, Sivarajan Solaimalai and Pramod Bhagat recorded group stage victories in para badminton. Those wins improved their positions in the opening phase, where players compete for places in the later rounds.

Krishna Nagar lost a close match to China's Lin Naili over three games. The contest went to a deciding game, giving Nagar a difficult start while several Indian teammates opened with wins.

Sonalben Patel and Baby Sahana Ravi won their table tennis matches. India's campaigns in para athletics, para swimming and para powerlifting were also scheduled to begin on October 19, broadening the opening day's competition beyond the early archery, shooting and judo results.

Where and when the archery medals will be decided

The All Japan Archery Federation's archery competition schedule places the sport at Okazaki Central General Park in Okazaki, Aichi Prefecture, from October 19 to 24. Nagoya is the Games' main centre, while archery takes place in another city within the host prefecture.

A separate official Asian Para Games schedule, dated February 3, 2026, lists para archery sessions from October 11 to 16, 2026, at Okazaki Chuo Sogo Park Multipurpose Square. Those dates differ from the federation timetable cited here. The official schedule says competition dates may change without prior notice following coordination with sports federations, and that venues are provisional and may change.

The federation lists the Asian Paralympic Committee as the organiser. Its timetable, based on organising committee information dated October 14, sets out the progression from qualification to individual, doubles and mixed team medal contests:

• October 19: Ranking rounds and initial elimination matches.
• October 20: Further individual and team elimination rounds, including semifinals in several events.
• October 21: Women's and men's compound doubles medal matches, alongside W1 team medal contests.
• October 22: Women's and men's W1 individual finals, compound mixed team medal matches, and compound individual finals.
• October 23: Recurve doubles and mixed team medal matches.
• October 24: Women's and men's recurve individual medal matches.

For Sheetal and Payal, the schedule places the doubles medal opportunity before the individual finals. Chaudhary's W1 campaign also leads toward October 22, while Harvinder and Sundi face a longer timetable toward the recurve individual finals on the last day.

A smaller Indian contingent pursues another major haul

India has sent 168 athletes to Aichi-Nagoya, compared with 309 at the previous Games in Hangzhou. That is 141 fewer competitors, a reduction of about 46%, as the team seeks to improve on its previous medal performance.

The Hangzhou benchmark is listed as 109 medals, including 27 gold, although a total of 111 is also cited for that campaign. Selection controversies accompanied preparations for Japan, where India's smaller contingent includes several Paralympic medallists.

The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports' 4th Asian Para Games explainer, published by PIB on October 31, 2023, confirms India's Hangzhou total as 111 medals: 29 gold, 31 silver and 51 bronze. India finished fifth.

The competition programme is described as 489 medal events across 19 sports, while the Japanese Paralympic Committee's competition overview cited at the opening lists 502 events across 18 sports. Those programme totals differ, but the archery federation gives specific dates and medal sessions for the Indian archers' immediate challenges.

India's first results put several athletes in strong positions without producing a complete opening day medal picture. Sheetal and Chaudhary led their archery fields, four rifle shooters reached finals, and Kokila secured at least silver. The next scheduled archery medal opportunities begin with team events on October 21.

Key Points

• Sheetal Devi equalled the women's compound qualification world record with 704 out of 720, improving the Asian record by six points.
• Sheetal and Payal Nag combined for 1,379 points, finishing 41 ahead of China and securing a direct team semifinal place.
• Swati Chaudhary led women's W1 archery qualification with a Games record of 648.
• Mona Agarwal set a women's 10m air rifle SH1 qualification record of 629.1; Avani Lekhara also reached the final.
• Kokila defeated world champion Yi Liu to reach the women's J2 judo final and guarantee at least silver.
• The cited federation timetable places archery in Okazaki through October 24, with women's compound individual medal matches scheduled for October 22; the separate official schedule dated February 3, 2026, lists para archery for October 11 to 16.