India’s para archery star Sheetal Devi came home from the Asian Para Games in Japan with two gold medals and a silver, and she has no plans to let the attention change her focus. She returned to New Delhi on Sunday to a rousing welcome, alongside her fellow Indian archers.

Her three medals came in the compound individual, mixed team and women’s team events. The individual gold carried the most weight. Sheetal defended her title with a hard-fought win over Singapore’s Nur Syahidah Alim, renewing a rivalry that began in the final of the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Para Games.

The 19-year-old from Jammu rated that individual gold as the most special of the three. She was clear about why it mattered to her.

“The individual event. The others are special too, but my focus was more on the individual event to return as a champion. With the grace of God and everyone’s wonderful and lovely support, I won,” she said.

Sheetal has been building toward this kind of consistency for some time, and her performances are now raising expectations at home. Yet she says the noise around her does not drive her. “I focus on my game. I do not look at social media much,” she told PTI. What moved her most was the crowd that gathered to see her. “But I feel very happy when I win a medal and people come to see me. Many children, even young children, watch, so it feels wonderful,” she said.

A team effort that reached new heights

Sheetal’s individual win was part of a bigger story for Indian archery. Paris Paralympics gold medallist Harvinder Singh said the recurve team handled the heavy pressure of higher expectations and still delivered gold at the continental event. Harvinder partnered Vijay Sundi in the men’s recurve team event.

He credited preparation and support for the result. “Indeed, higher expectations bring pressure, but I am glad we handled that pressure. Our practice was excellent, the federation’s support was wonderful, and we received a week of training there, all of which benefited us in archery,” he said.

India recorded its best-ever campaign in archery at the Asian Para Games, returning with three golds and an equal number of silvers. Harvinder pointed to how far the program has come since 2018, when he was the only Indian archer to win an individual medal at the Games. “It feels wonderful when the entire team wins medals. In 2018, only I had won an individual medal, but this time I am happy that many more medals have come,” he said. He also looked ahead to the athletes who came home without a podium finish. “For those few players who did not win, we hope that next time our entire team will bring home medals,” he added.

Mona Agarwal’s dream run in Japan

Para shooter Mona Agarwal had an equally emphatic campaign. She won two golds and set five records, one of them a world record. Her haul made her India’s most successful athlete at the Games, which produced 114 medals for the country overall.

Mona also carried the national flag at the closing ceremony in Nagoya. She said the honour sits alongside everything else she achieved. “Winning a medal, setting records, and becoming a flag bearer are all connected; they cannot be separated. It feels like a dream,” she said.

She admitted that her goals were far more modest when she left for Japan. “When I left for Japan, I went thinking I would bring back two medals, but I did not think I would return with two gold, five records, and become the flag bearer,” she said on her return. She also said she had brought a great deal of happiness home in a short time. “In a very short time, I have brought back a lot of happiness from Japan,” she said.

Nitesh Kumar sets his eyes on Los Angeles

Badminton player Nitesh Kumar added another gold to the Indian tally. He won the men’s singles SL3 title by beating compatriot and veteran Pramod Bhagat in an all-Indian final. The Paris Paralympics gold medallist said the result meant a great deal to him.

“Winning against Pramod in two sets is, of course, very special. Winning the final against him is a very rare thing, and the final match was quite good and interesting,” Nitesh said.

His next target is already set. Nitesh wants to defend his Paralympic title at the Los Angeles Games in 2028. He knows the road is long. “We are hoping for the same (Paralympics gold), but two years is a long journey. First, we have to get through qualifications, and the target will remain the same — to defend my title in LA,” he said.

For Sheetal, Mona and Nitesh, the Asian Para Games delivered more than medals. It showed a squad that stepped up under pressure, carried each other’s hopes, and came home with a clear message about where Indian para sport is headed. Sheetal’s individual gold, defended against a familiar rival, stands at the centre of that story.