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Indian mixed compound archery team at the Paris Paralympics will go into the knockout rounds after having created the world record in the discipline on Thursday in the ranking round. (More Sports News)
Soon after Sheetal Devi, who shoots without arms, missed the world record by a solitary point in the women's ranking round, Rakesh Kumar helped her get into the record books in the mixed team event.
Rakesh Kumar shot 696 in the men's ranking round while Devi had earlier fired 703 in the women's ranking event. The combined score of the duo, 1399, is a new world record in mixed compound para archery.
The duo will enter the knockout stages as the top seeds.
Kumar's season-best 696 helped him get the fifth position in the ranking round, meaning he would not get a bye for the Round of 32 which he would have gotten had he finished in the top four. Kumar will now face Senegal's Aliou Drame in the Round of 32 on Friday, August 30.
Shyam Sundar, the other Indian in the men's ranking round, finished 15th with 688 points.
Earlier on Thursday, Sheetal Devi had a fantastic outing even as she missed the world record by the barest of margins. The 17-year-old armless archer scored a total of 703 points out of possible 720 to finish second in the women's ranking round. A top four finish also meant that she directly secures a place in the Round of 16.
She will now feature in the round of 16 on Saturday.
Devi will face the winner of round of 32 match between Mariana Zuniga of Chile and Choi Na Mi of Korea, who finished 15th and 18th respectively in the ranking round.
Sarita, the other woman para archer in the fray, finished ninth in the ranking round and will begin her knockout campaign in the Round of 32.
