Paralympics: Sheetal Devi leads Indian archers' impressive show in ranking round

India's armless archer Sheetal Devi finished second in the women's individual compound open ranking round with a stunning performance to directly make a round of 16 entry in the Paris Paralympics on Thursday. The 17-year-old Devi from Jammu and Kashmir, who shoots with her legs as she was born without arms, scored a total of 703 points out of a possible 720 to finish second behind Oznur Girdi Cure of Turkey, who set a ranking round world record of 704 points.

In fact, Devi also got past the ranking round world record of 698 set by Phoebe Pine Paterson of Great Britain earlier this month, but the Turkish



archer overtook her to claim the coveted mark. Devi shot 59 10s and 24 Xs while her Turkish opponent had 56 10s and 29 Xs in the 72-arrow contest on the opening day of competitions at the Paralympic Games.

The top-four finishers in the ranking round, including Devi, got byes from the round of 32 competition and they will feature in the round of 16 on Saturday. Devi will face the winner of the round of 32 match between Mariana Zuniga of Chile and Choi Na Mi of Korea, who finished 15th and 18th respectively in the ranking round. Zuniga won a silver in the women's individual compound open in the Tokyo Paralympics.