The qualifying rounds kicked off in the United Arab Emirates with the 8th Fazza World Para Archery Ranking Tournament - Dubai 2024, a major final qualifying tournament for the Paralympic Games to be held in Paris from Wednesday 28 August to Sunday 8 September 2024. In this competition, armless archer Sheetal Devi stood out and took the lead as the Dubai 2024 Para Archery event got underway. Some of the world's best archers, including Paralympic and World Champions, are in action this week at the Dubai Club for People of Determination in the Middle East. Teenage sensation, 17-year-old Indian Sheetal Devi, was one of the highlights of the first day's action, finishing first in the Open Compound Female category after the qualifying rounds.

Devi, who has no arms, was already a champion at the Hangzhou 2022 Para Asian Games. She scored a total of 348 out of 360 to take the top spot in the qualifying round, which was held in warm and windy conditions. "It's nice to be back on the shooting line. I love competing. There was a bit of wind today, but it's OK for me," said the young archer, commenting on the competition conditions.

Other qualifiers included Jonathon Milne (Australia), Elisabetta Mijno (Italy), Samuel Molina (Mexico), Mohammadreza Zandi (Iran) and Tereza Brandtlova (Czech Republic) as top seeds in the Open Compound Men's and Women's and Wheelchair Men's and Women's events.

Later, the promising Devi teamed up with Rakesh Kumar in the Open Compound Mixed Team category and put up a strong performance with several 10s and Xs on their scorecard. However, a poor five from Kumar saw them lose 148-145 to Turkey in the semi-finals.

Turkey will now face the United States in the final of the Open Compound Mixed Team event. Italy will face Japan in the Open Recurve Mixed Team final, while the Czech Republic will meet Italy in the W1 Mixed Team final, all on Thursday. In the Africa Oceania Intercontinental event, Australia secured four places on the first day.