The gold by Suchitra was the third medal for Odisha at the Khelo India Para Games 2025. Earlier on the opening day, Odisha women para-sprint star Jayanti Behera and her Statemate Janaki Oram captured one gold and silver medal respectively.

Meanwhile, Odisha archery sensation Payal Nag set up a mouth-watering gold-medal clash in compound women open category against her idol and 2024 Paris Paralympics bronze medallist Sheetal Devi (J&K) to be held at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium tomorrow.

In the semifinals today, Sheetal and Payal registered impressive wins with scores of 140 and 139 respectively. Notably, Sheetal is the first and only female para-archery champion without upper limbs, while Payal is the first para athlete from India to compete without any of the four limbs.

Payal tragically lost all four limbs in an electrocution accident at the age of five. She trained at the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Archery Academy in Katra, Jammu & Kashmir, under Kuldeep Vedwan, who spotted Payal after a tweet went viral of her making a portrait using her mouth at an orphanage home in her home district Balangir.
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TOP: Odisha para javelin star Suchitra Parida poses with her gold medal at the 2nd Khelo India Para Games in New Delhi on 22 March 2025.
RIGHT: File picture of para archery sensations Payal Nag (Right) and Sheetal Devi with their coach Kuldeep Vedwan.