Reigning World Archery Para champion Sheetal Devi fell one point short of matching her season best but still improved her own Asian record as she topped compound women\u2019s qualifying at the second stage of the World Archery Para Series in Nove Mesto.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 19-year-old Indian shot an impressive 697, including 21 Xs, to finish 13 points clear of the field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Singapore\u2019s world number three Nur Syahidah Alim and Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Champion Phoebe Paterson Pine both finished on 684, with Alim taking the second seed on X-count.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Teenager Payal Nag, the first quadruple amputee in the history of the sport, qualified eighth on 669, five points behind Paris 2024 bronze medallist Jodie Grinham. Nag shocked Devi to win her first international gold at the opening stage of the World Archery Para Series in Bangkok in April.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The compound men\u2019s qualifying was much closer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
USA\u2019s Kevin Polish, India\u2019s Rakesh Kumar and France\u2019s Maxime Gu\u00e9rin all finished on 698, with Polish taking the top seed after shooting 27 Xs. Kumar had 21 and Gu\u00e9rin 17.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Polish, 43, was part of the USA that won compound men\u2019s team gold at the 2025 World Archery Para Championships in Gwangju.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Two more Indians finished inside the top seven, with Shyam Sunder Swami and reigning World Archery Para Champion and world number one Toman Kumar also making strong starts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Indonesia\u2019s Kholidin, gold medallist at Bangkok 2026, topped recurve men\u2019s qualifying with 644, two points clear of the field. Gwangju 2025 world champion Stefano Travisani qualified third, while reigning Paralympic Champion Harvinder Singh was five points back on 639.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
India also led recurve women\u2019s qualifying, with Bhawna shooting a career-best 570, including seven Xs and three 10s. She finished one point ahead of Indonesia\u2019s Noviera Ross.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In W1 men, Italy\u2019s Maurizio Panella took the top seed with 668, ahead of home favourite David Drahoninsky, the two-time Paralympic Champion, who qualified third.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There was more for the Czech crowd to celebrate in W1 women, where world number one Sarka Pultar Musilova topped the ranking with 649. Korea\u2019s world number three Kim Ok Geum, who claimed the gold at Bangkok 2026, was third on 615.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Reigning World Archery Para champion Sheetal Devi fell one point short of matching her season best but still<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14356,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[68],"class_list":["post-14355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsbeat","tag-archery"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t