Payal Nag stuns Sheetal for gold as India top standings in Bangkok Para Archery

Teenage quadruple amputee archer Payal Nag produced a stunning upset to defeat her world No 1 decorated teammate Sheetal Devi and clinch gold headlining Indias dominant show at the World Archery Para Series here where the country finished on top with an overwhelming seven goldThe 18yearold rising star won 139136 in the compound womens final capping a memorable campaign as India signed off with 16 medals including five silver and four bronzeThis was Payals second win over Sheetal in little over a year having defeated her at the Para Nationals in Jaipur in January 2025Payal competing in only her second international event after making her debut at the Dubai 2025 Asian Youth Para Games showed remarkable composure under pressure to get the better of her more decorated compatriotShe began strongly with a perfect 10 taking the opening end 2725 before Sheetal fought back to level the contestLocked at 54all after the second end Payal raised her game in the third shooting two 9s and a 10 to move ahead 8280 and then sealed the contest with a clinical final end that included two 10sA find of Sheetals childhood coach Kuldeep Vedwan Payals journey has been nothing short of extraordinary The daughter of a migrant labourer from Odishas Balangir district she lost all four limbs after coming into contact with a live wire at a brick kiln in 2015She trained alongside Sheetal at the Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board Sports Complex in Katra during 202324 before the latter shifted base to SonepatArmless Sheetal has been Indias most decorated para archer having won twoAsian Para Games gold medals in 2022 and becoming Indias youngest Paralympic medallist with her mixed team bronze in Paris 2024Since making her national debut in 2025 Payal has rapidly risen through the ranks including a win over Sheetal in Jaipur a silver at the Khelo India Para Games and a bronze at the national championships earlier this year after finishing behind Sheetal in the qualifiersIndias gold rush also saw Toman Kumar and Bhawna emerge champions in their respective eventsToman defeated Australias Jonathon Milne 146142 in the compound mens final while Bhawna outclassed Thailands Phattharaphon Pattawaeo 60 in the recurve womens summit clashDouble Paralympic medallist Harvinder Singh had to settle for silver after going down 37 to Indonesias Kholidin in the recurve final while Swati Chaudhary also claimed a silver losing 37 to Ok Geum Kim of South Korea in the W1 womens gold medal matchEarlier Shyam Sunder Swami secured a bronze after edging past compatriot and Paris Paralympic bronze medallist Rakesh Kumar in a closelyfought playoff in the compound mens individual eventSwami prevailed 143 10 to 143 9 in the bronze medal match with the contest decided on a tiebreak after both archers were locked at identical scoresRakesh ended his campaign in fourth place following the narrow defeatIn the W1 womens individual event Anjum Tanwar also finished fourth after going down 26 in her bronze medal match against an opponent from the Republic of KoreaThe Bangkok meet follows the Asia Cup first leg held recently at the same venue where India had finished with 10 medals two gold four silver and four bronzeThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever