Sheetal Devi-Rakesh Kumar pair advances to archery semifinals in Paralympics

NEW DELHI: The Indian pair of Sheetal Devi and Rakesh Kumar secured a comfortable 154-143 victory over Indonesia's Teodora Audi Ayudia Ferellyin and Ken Swagumilang in the mixed team compound open archery quarterfinals at the Paralympics in Paris on Monday, advancing to the semifinals. They will face Iran's Fatemeh Hemmati and Hadi Nori, who won their quarterfinal match against Brazil's Jane Karla Gogel and Reinaldo Vagner Charao Ferreira 153-151.The top-seeded Indian duo displayed impressive form throughout the match. Their performance was highlighted by a perfect score of 40 in the fourth and final end, sealing their win.Sheetal, 17, born in 2007, has phocomelia, a rare congenital disorder that results in underdeveloped limbs. The condition caused her arms to not fully form.Rakesh, 39, experienced a spinal cord injury and after recovering in 2009, he learned he would be wheelchair-bound for life. This realization led him into depression and even thoughts of taking his own life.On Sunday, Rakesh narrowly missed the bronze medal in the men's compound open category, losing to China's He Zihao by just one point.