World Archery Para C'ships: Sheetal Devi, Toman Kumar clinch India's maiden individual titles

Para compound archers Sheetal Devi and Toman Kumar clinched India's first-ever Individual World titles at World Archery Para Championships in Gwangju, South Korea, on Saturday.

Toman Kuar, who made his international debut this year, showed exceptional shooting throughout the tournament to win his maiden Individual World Medal.

In an all-Indian compound open final, he competed against his compatriot Rakesh Kumar. However, in a dramatic turn of events, Toman was crowned champion after the first set when Rakesh had to withdraw due to an equipment malfunction.

This was a heartbreak for the experienced Rakesh Kumar, who was playing in his first-ever Individual final but had to settle for a silver medal due to an unfortunate event.

Three medals for Sheetal Devi

On the other hand, Sheetal made it a double for India in Individual events by winning the women's compound final against reigning World and Paralympic champion Oznur Cure Girdi of Turkiye.

This was Sheetal's second consecutive final, but she avenged her 2023 loss by defeating the same opponent in a rather comfortable manner.

She was looking in good touch throughout the final, which put a lot of pressure on Oznur, who fumbled in between and dropped regular points, making it easy for Sheetal.

With this, the young Indian also became the first Indian to win three medals from the same edition of the World Archery Para  Championships.

Earlier in the day, she partnered with defending mixed team world champion Sarita to clinch India's first-ever silver medal from the women's compound open doubles category.

The pair faced a significant loss to Türkiye in the final, with two consecutive arrows landing in the 8-ring during the last set of an otherwise closely contested match.

Sheetal then partnered with Toman Kumar to clinch her third medal of the competition after winning the mixed team bronze medal match against Great Britain, 152-149.

With this, India concluded the competition with its best-ever medal tally, having won five medals, including 2 gold, 2 silver, and one bronze.

List of Indian medalists at the 2025 World Archery Para Championships

Gold - Toman Kumar - Men's Compound Open Individual

Gold - Sheetal Devi - Women's  Compound Open Individual

Silver - Rakesh Kumar - Compound Open Individual

Silver - Women's Compound Open Doubles

Bronze - Mixed Compound Open Team