{"id":3834,"date":"2025-09-28T10:16:51","date_gmt":"2025-09-28T02:16:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/?p=3834"},"modified":"2025-09-28T10:16:53","modified_gmt":"2025-09-28T02:16:53","slug":"sheetal-devi-wins-compound-world-title-as-india-double-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/sheetal-devi-wins-compound-world-title-as-india-double-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Sheetal Devi wins compound world title as India double up"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

India\u2019s Sheetal Devi became compound women\u2019s world champion at the Gwangju 2025 World Archery Para Championships, beating the reigning champion Oznur Cure Girdi, 146-143 on the stage at 5.18 Democracy Square.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201dI had a dream I would become world champion. It made me want to work. I worked and worked and today I\u2019ve got such a good result,\u201d said Devi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The journey of Sheetal Devi, born with a rare congenital disorder that left her without arms, is perhaps the greatest legacy of the original \u2018armless archer\u2019 Matt Stutzman, who inspired both her and several other para archers to take up the sport.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still only 18 years old, Sheetal\u2019s career as a performance athlete rocketed after winning her first major in 2022 at the Asian Games, and a silver in Pilsen followed by mixed team bronze in Paris saw her familiar with the biggest podiums.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The match against Girdi was a re-run of the 2023 final in Pilsen. \u201dThe pressure wasn’t great. I controlled myself and shot very calmly. My heartbeat wasn\u2019t so fast, so there was less pressure. It felt amazing just to be in the finals again,\u201d said Devi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tied up after the first end, the match pivoted on the second end, which Devi cleaned while Girdi dropped three points. It would be enough, as Devi shot solidly enough to maintain a lead right through to the end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both Devi and Girdi had a triple shift to work on compound Saturday, with individual, mixed team and team matches to navigate. Girdi triumphed in women\u2019s doubles alongside Busra Fatma Un, beating the team of Devi and Sarita 152-148.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Devi also took mixed team bronze against Great Britain, with Girdi taking silver in the mixed team gold final against China. It was the only Chinese victory of the day, as they lost to the USA in the men\u2019s doubles and were well beaten by Great Britain in the women\u2019s doubles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The compound men\u2019s title also went to India, as Toman Kumar took the title after a disastrous technical failure for his opponent and teammate Rakesh Kumar during the gold medal match.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rakesh had a problem with a cam on his bow, which rapidly got worse. After an end and a half of scoring, he was forced to withdraw, handing Toman the match and the title of world champion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the walkover, the achievement to get to the final stage was enormous. \u201dI took a lot of efforts to practice. We had camps. I practiced day and night to get here. So I\u2019m very happy with the result.\u201d said Toman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Great Britain\u2019s Nathan MacQueen took bronze against Shyam Sunder Swami, 148-141, keeping the podium from being a clean sweep for India.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The USA took a historic gold against reigning champions China, 156-153. \u201cWe had a good game plan coming into this. Our timing was really on, we came in there pretty confident. We knew if we did our system we had a good chance,\u201d said Kevin Polish.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t ask for a better teammate (Ben Thompson) right now. It\u2019s a memory I\u2019ll never forget.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile in the visually impaired category, Cyprus\u2019s Christos Misos is the new VI1 world champion, after beating Ruben Vanhollebeke in the final.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was a very, very hard job, getting here, a very hard job with my trainer. The last set was tied, and I got that seven to get the win,\u201d said Misos. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was Misos\u2019 first major title win after many silver medals at world level. \u201cIt was our discipline that made it happen. Just one arrow can make the difference,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 47-year-old took up archery in 2014 after going blind due to a virus. The first ever VI archer in Cyprus, he devoted his life to the sport and is also a coach and judge. He made a performance breakthrough this year, winning the Rome 2025 European Para Archery Cup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Visually impaired archers shoot over 30 metres, and matches use the set system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bronze medal went to Craig Newbery of Australia, who competed with his daughter Jacqueline Newbery acting as spotter, as they did in Pilsen, where he took silver. \u201cVery exciting. I shot better today than I did yesterday. Today was a clean slate,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat’s next for me? Gold in Australia.\u201d The 2027 World Para Championships will be held in Canberra.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Newbery<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The VI2\/3 category also crowned a new champion, Nicholas Thomas of Great Britain. Third last time out at Pilsen 2023, he beat Kathleen Meurrens of Belgium 6-4 to become the new world champion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an unbelievable feeling, to be honest with you. I was very, very nervous up there. I know Kathleen very well, all the VI archers know each other very well. So yeah it’s a strange sensation you know shooting against somebody you know so well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thomas came back against Muerrens, who took the lead after the third set, to close it out with sets of 26 and 25. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nicholas grasps the mantle from the British winner of the last two VI2\/3 world titles, Steve Prowse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt’s something I’ve worked really hard for for the last couple of years and yeah, just finally made it and I’m really, really happy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bronze went to Mihai Bursuc, taking his first ever world championship medal, who won the match from Korean Kim Sungmin, 6-2.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Podiums<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Compound men<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  1. Toman Kumar, India<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Rakesh Kumar, India<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Nathan McQueen, Great Britain<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Compound women<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
      \n
    1. Sheetal Devi, India<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    2. Oznur Cure Girdi, T\u00fcrkiye<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    3. Jodie Grinham, Great Britain<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      Compound men\u2019s team<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
        \n
      1. USA <\/strong>(Kevin Polisdh, Ben Thompson) <\/li>\n\n\n\n
      2. China <\/strong>(Zhang Yicheng, Bao Yirui)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      3. Great Britain<\/strong> (Nathan MacQueen, Jamie Harris)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

        Compound women\u2019s team<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
          \n
        1. T\u00fcrkiye <\/strong>(Oznur Cure Girdi, Busra Fatma Un)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        2. India <\/strong>(Sheetal Devi, Sarita)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        3. Great Britain<\/strong> (Jessica Stretton, Phoebe Paterson Pine)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

          Compound mixed team<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
            \n
          1. China<\/strong> (Zhang Yicheng, Xu Xueqing) <\/li>\n\n\n\n
          2. T\u00fcrkiye<\/strong> (Oznur Cure Girdi, Kenan Baboaglu)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          3. India <\/strong>(Sheetal Devi, Toman Kumar) <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

            Visually impaired 1<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
              \n
            1. Christos Misos, Cyprus<\/li>\n\n\n\n
            2. Ruben Vanhollebeke, Belgium<\/li>\n\n\n\n
            3. Craig Newberry, Australia<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

              Visually impaired 2\/3<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
                \n
              1. Nicholas Thomas, Great Britain<\/li>\n\n\n\n
              2. Kathleen Muerrens, Belgium<\/li>\n\n\n\n
              3. Mihai Bursuc, Romania<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                India\u2019s Sheetal Devi became compound women\u2019s world champion at the Gwangju 2025 World Archery Para Championships, beating the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3835,"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-3834","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsbeat","tag-archery"],"aioseo_notices":[],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Sheetal-Devi_compressed.jpg",1140,641,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Sheetal-Devi_compressed-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Sheetal-Devi_compressed-300x169.jpg",300,169,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Sheetal-Devi_compressed-768x432.jpg",640,360,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Sheetal-Devi_compressed-1024x576.jpg",640,360,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Sheetal-Devi_compressed.jpg",1140,641,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Sheetal-Devi_compressed.jpg",1140,641,false],"morenews-large":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Sheetal-Devi_compressed-825x575.jpg",825,575,true],"morenews-medium":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Sheetal-Devi_compressed-590x410.jpg",590,410,true]},"author_info":{"info":["admin"]},"category_info":"Newsbeat<\/a>","tag_info":"Newsbeat","comment_count":"0","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Sheetal-Devi_compressed.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3834","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3834"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3834\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3837,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3834\/revisions\/3837"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}