Singaporean archer Nur Syahidah Alim claims silver at Asian Para Games

SINGAPORE – Para archer Nur Syahidah Alim clinched her second consecutive silver medal at the Asian Para Games, after losing to arch-rival and India’s defending champion Sheetal Devi in the compound women’s individual open on Oct 22.

At the Okazaki Chuo Sogo Park Multipurpose Square in Aichi, the world No. 2 Singaporean was beaten to gold again after losing 142-139 to the top-ranked Devi.

The pair had faced off in the Asiad final at the 2022 Hangzhou Games, where Devi fired six perfect 10s to take the win 144-142.

They met again at the Asian Para Archery Championships in 2023, when Syahidah was victorious after a shoot-off.

At the ongoing Games in Japan, Syahidah had qualified second behind Devi in the ranking round and defeated Kazakhs Zhanat Aitimova and Aizada Seidan before edging past China’s Xu Xueqing en route to the final.

Devi’s impressive run to the final saw her score a world record 149 out of 150 points in the round of 16 against Hong Kong’s Chan Yuen Wah, before beating the Philippines’ Agustina Bantiloc and Japan’s Aya Shinohara.

She then teamed up with Payal Nag to claim a silver in the para compound women’s doubles on Oct 21, after they were beaten by China’s Xu and Zhao Jing.

In the para compound mixed team final on Oct 22, Devi helped India claim gold after beating Indonesia.