The Faridabad native, who had secured the ninth seed in the qualifying round, showcased her prowess in the initial rounds before being stopped by top-seeded Oznur Cure Girdi of Korea in the last eight.
Oznur, who had shattered the world record during the qualifying round with an impressive score of 704 out of a possible 720 points, displayed her dominance by shooting three perfect 10s in the second end, establishing a substantial five-point lead over Sarita.
Despite Sarita’s valiant effort in the third end and a flawless fourth end that matched Oznur’s 30, the Turkish archer maintained her four-point advantage. Oznur’s strong start and consistent performance proved to be the deciding factor as she sealed the victory with a score of 29 in the fifth end.
In another disappointing result for India, Sheetal Devi, the armless wonder, was eliminated from the last-16 stage in the compound women’s open category. The Paris Paralympics witnessed both the triumphs and the setbacks of these determined athletes as they competed on the global stage.
Sheetal, an Asian Para Games double gold medalist who had surpassed the previous world record with a score of 703, received a bye into the last-16 round.
Despite a strong start, hitting two Xs and dropping only one point to win the opening set 29-28, Sheetal encountered a setback in the second end. Her 7-point arrow allowed the experienced Chilean archer, Mariana Zuniga, to level the score at 55-all by winning the second end 27-26.
The two archers engaged in a close battle over the next eight arrows, but Mariana ultimately prevailed by shooting a 9 in the final arrow, while Sheetal, making her Paralympics debut, slipped to the 8-ring and lost by a single point. Sheetal’s early elimination came as a surprise, given her status as the second seed.
In contrast, ninth seed Sarita dominated from the beginning, defeating Italy’s Eleonora Sarti 141-135 in a one-sided pre-quarterfinal match. Sarita, who won a team silver medal at the Asian Para Games last year, dropped just one point to establish a four-point lead in the first end. She extended her lead to five points in the second end, where she shot one X (closer to the center).
Although her higher-ranked Italian opponent managed two 10s and won the third end, Sarita maintained control and secured the victory with two solid ends. Earlier, Sarita had eliminated Nur Jannaton Abdul Jalil of Malaysia 138-124 in her first-round clash.
In the open class, archers compete from a sitting position, shooting at a distance of 50m at an 80cm five-ring target consisting of the 10-6 point bands.
