Defending champion Sheetal Devi made a remarkable start to her Asian Para Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026 campaign on Monday, equalling the world record in the compound women’s qualification before joining Toman Kumar to set a new world record in the mixed team round as records tumbled in Okazaki.
The 18-year-old scored 704 points out of a possible 720, matching the world record held by Türkiye’s Oznur Cure Girdi. Devi also improved her own Asian record of 698, set in Bangkok in March, by six points and raised the Asian Para Games record from 680 to 704.
She maintained her pace throughout the round, scoring 352 points in each half, with 32 Xs and 25 10s, to secure the top seed in the compound women’s event.
The reigning world champions and world number ones, Devi and Kumar, then combined for 1402 points in the mixed team qualification, breaking the previous world record of 1400, also set by India.
Devi also teamed up with quadruple archer Payal Nag in the compound women’s doubles qualification. Their combined score of 1379 set new Asian and Games records, surpassing the previous Asian mark of 1378. Nag contributed 675 points, helping the Indian pair top the women's doubles ranking.
India’s record haul extended to the W1 women’s event, where debutant Swati Chaudhary set a new Games record with 648 points, also topping the qualification.
China made its mark in the compound men’s and W1 events.
Yicheng Zhang could hardly have asked for a better start to his Asian Para Games debut. He scored 708 points to set new Asian and Games records in the compound men’s qualification before teaming up with 2018 Asian Games gold medallist Xinliang Ai to set a world record of 1412 in the compound men’s doubles round.
In W1 men’s doubles, Tianxin Zhang and Pan Li set new Asian and Games records with a combined 1321 points, improving the previous mark of 1309.
Zhang also teamed up with Mengkan Cen to establish a new Games record in the W1 mixed team qualification, with 1297 points.
The recurve events offered a different kind of contest, with Korea’s Geonhwi Kwak taking the top seed in the men’s event with 661 points. Indonesia's Kholidin finished second, while China’s Lixue Zhao, a bronze medallist at Hangzhou 2022, qualified third.
China’s Xueqian Wang topped the recurve women’s standings with 630 points, opening up a 14-point lead over India’s Bhawna. Indonesia’s Noviera Ross completed the top three.
With records set and seeds decided, the competition moves into the elimination rounds, with mixed-team, doubles and individual titles to be decided over the next five days.
*All records remain subject to official ratification.
Top seeds: Aichi-Nagoya 2026
Full results are available on the event page.
- Recurve men: Geonhwi Kwak, Korea - 661
- Recurve women: Xueqian Wang, China - 630
- Compound men: Yicheng Zhang, China - 708
- Compound women: Sheetal Devi, India - 704
- W1 men: Tianxin Zhang, China - 667
- W1 women: Swati Chaudhary, India - 648
