Sheetal Devi reaches a third straight final, Tanvi Pravin Ingale and Yugal Garg strike silver and bronze in VI1, and two Indian teams punch their way into gold medal matches — but the hosts also absorbed some hard semi-final losses on a day that swung both ways at the Hyundai World Archery Para Series.
Ahmedabad, 7 September 2026
Day three of the Hyundai World Archery Para Series delivered exactly the kind of afternoon India’s home crowd came for — three shots at gold still alive, a fresh medal secured in the Visually Impaired 1 category, and a world record already banked earlier in the week. But it was not a one-way procession. Several of India’s most decorated names, including Paralympic champion Harvinder Singh, found the going tougher on a day that underlined just how competitive this five-day series has become.
Sheetal Devi Keeps Her Perfect Final Streak Alive
The headline act, as it has been all series, was Sheetal Devi. The armless compound archer needed every bit of her composure to see off training partner and compatriot Sarita 145-143 in the women’s compound semi-final, a result that sends her into a third consecutive individual final across the series’ stops in Thailand, Czechia and now Ahmedabad.
Devi will face Kazakhstan’s Aizada Seidan for gold on 9 September, while Sarita — the beaten semi-finalist — regroups to fight for bronze against China’s Wang Huiting. It is the kind of all-India semi-final India’s growing depth in compound archery now regularly produces, and it guarantees that whatever happens in the final, India’s compound women’s programme walks away from Ahmedabad with silverware in hand.
A Tougher Day for India’s Men
The men’s draw was less kind to India. In the compound semi-final, Toman Kumar’s 144-146 defeat to Indonesia’s Ken Swagumilang denied India a place in that gold final; Kumar now turns his attention to the bronze medal match against Iraq’s Abbas Kadhim.
The recurve men’s event was the day’s most sobering result for the home nation. All four Indian archers in the draw — including Tokyo Paralympic champion Harvinder Singh — failed to advance past the last 16, with Singh among those eliminated at that stage. It was a rare blank day for a programme that has otherwise been front and centre of India’s rise in Paralympic archery, and a reminder that Ahmedabad’s field carries genuine international depth.
In the women’s recurve draw, Bhawna’s bid for a third straight series title ended in heartbreak, going down to Iran’s Somayeh Rahimi in a shoot-off. She now meets fellow Indian Rajshri Rathod in the bronze medal match — another all-India contest that ensures a podium finish for the colour.
Double Delight in Visually Impaired 1
If the recurve men’s draw was the low point of the day, the Visually Impaired 1 category was its most rewarding. Three Indian archers had advanced to the semi-finals, guaranteeing the country at least two medals in the category — and India delivered on both fronts.
Tanvi Pravin Ingale reached the gold medal match but was edged out 4-6 by world number one Christos Misos of Cyprus, settling for silver. In the bronze final, Yugal Garg turned an all-Indian contest in his favour, defeating compatriot Pawan Kumar 6-2 to complete the double for India in the category.
Two medals from three semi-finalists — precisely the return India’s VI1 contingent had set up for itself heading into the day’s medal matches.
Team Events: Two Finals Booked, Two Bronze Bids Set Up
Team competition provided the day’s biggest swings in fortune for India, with four different squads in action across the mixed, W1 men’s and W1 women’s brackets.
Para Recurve Mixed Team delivered the day’s most emphatic result, brushing aside Indonesia 6-0 in the semi-final to set up a gold medal shootout against China on 9 September at 09:20 local time.
Mixed Team W1 (Recurve/Compound) matched that achievement, edging China 6-2 in their semi-final to also book a place in the gold medal match — giving India two genuine gold medal opportunities in team events on the series’ closing days.
Para Compound Mixed Team, however, endured the most dramatic result of the day. Sheetal Devi and Toman Kumar’s team beat Bangladesh 149-148 in the quarter-final before running into China in the semi-final, where the sides could not be separated even after a full match — locked at 156-156 and still tied 20-20 in the shoot-off, with China eventually taking the win on countback. India will now play Iraq for bronze on 9 September.
The W1 Men’s and W1 Women’s teams both fell in their semi-finals — the men’s side beaten 0-6 by Czechia, and the women’s team going down 3-5 to China — and both will now compete in bronze medal matches of their own.
The Record That Set the Tone
Day three’s results built on a mark set earlier in the series that has already made headlines well beyond archery circles: Sheetal Devi and Rakesh Kumar’s world record score of 1400 out of a possible 1440 in the mixed compound team qualification round, breaking the previous best set at the Paris 2024 Paralympics by a single point. It was an early statement of intent from the host nation, and one that Ahmedabad’s crowds have seen backed up, medal match by medal match, in the days since.
What’s Next
With two days of competition remaining, India goes into 8 and 9 September with medal chances across almost every discipline still on the table. Sheetal Devi’s gold final, the Recurve Mixed Team and Mixed Team W1 gold matches, and bronze medal bids from Toman Kumar, Bhawna, the Compound Mixed Team, and both W1 squads mean the host nation’s medal count from its first major international para archery event is set to keep climbing before the series concludes.