All posts tagged: Toman Kumar

Payal Nag stuns Sheetal Devi to win the title

Payal Nag stuns Sheetal Devi to win the title

Published by Webster

The world’s first female limbless archer, Payal Nag, stunned the reigning world champion Sheetal Devi to win the title at the World Archery Para Series in Bangkok, Thailand, on Saturday. The 18-year-old took a 139-136 win in the final to bag the women’s compound open individual gold medal in her first senior international tournament. The match had a close start, with both players having a tied score at 54 after the two ends, but then Payal shot three good ends to extend her lead and claim the title. BIG NEWS📢 Payal Nag stuns World Champion Sheetal Devi to win the 🥇 medal in her first senior international tournament! The 18-year-old takes a 139-136 win to bag the women’s compound open individual title at the World Archery Para Series in Bangkok.#ParaArchery 🏹 | (📷:… pic.twitter.com/T2fMGxEK8y — The Bridge (@the_bridge_in) April 4, 2026 This was the second title of the tournament for Payal, who earlier won the women’s double gold alongside Sheetal Devi, giving a golden start to her career. Meanwhile, the world champion Toman Kumar made …

Sheetal Devi and Toman Kumar clinch two team titles

Sheetal Devi and Toman Kumar clinch two team titles

Published by Webster

Indian compound archers clinched all three open team titles at the first World Archery Para Series of the year in Bangkok, Thailand, on Friday. Reigning world champions Sheetal Devi and Toman Kumar each won two titles, including the mixed doubles with a 153-146 win over Indonesia. Earlier, Sheetal partnered with Payal Nag to come from behind and claim the women’s open doubles title with a 150-147 win over Kazakhstan. Later, Toman and his partner Shyam Sunder Swami bagged the men’s doubles open title with a dominant 153-146 win over Chinese Taipei. In the recurve, the women’s open doubles team of Bhawna and Rajshri Rathod also bagged a medal, winning the bronze medal match in straight sets, 6-0, over Japan. The second-seeded Indian team will be happy to finish on the podium after missing a place in the final with a 1-5 defeat to the hosts, Thailand, in the semi-final. Later in the day, the Indian men’s doubles recurve team and the Indian mixed doubles recurve team will also fight in gold & bronze medal matches, …

India’s breakthrough athletes of 2025

India’s breakthrough athletes of 2025

Published by Webster

The 2025 season was full of ups and downs for Indian sports, featuring the impressive rise of a few youngsters and a slew of disappointing results from few established performers. In the larger scheme of things, it was a familiar post-Olympic year phenomenon where many elite athletes either don’t compete much or try different techniques, equipment to gear up for the next Olympic cycle. This also offers an opportunity for young and rising players to showcase their potential and put their hat in the ring for the upcoming three-year cycle. India has also seen such surprising results this year, including Samrat Rana’s historic World Championship gold medal and the rise of players like Suruchi Singh Phogat, Sachin Yadav and others. Here, we take a look at such breakout stars for India in 2025: Samrat Rana (Shooting) Samrat Rana was one of India’s biggest finds of the year, making his senior international debut and then claiming a world championship title in the same year. He clinched three medals at his maiden ISSF World Championships, which included …

Toman Kumar’s incredible Para Archery journey

Toman Kumar’s incredible Para Archery journey

Published by Webster

As Rakesh exited the shooting platform on his wheelchair, Toman stood there awkwardly during the 2025 World Para Archery Championships in Gwanju, South Korea. He went to pat Rakesh on the back before gingerly raising his bow. Then came a wry smile, nearly forced. Toman Kumar was the world champion before Rakesh “bhaiyaa”. It wasn’t how he expected he would win with Rakesh withdrawing midway due to faulty equipment, but here he was at the centre of attention. As Toman raised his bow, his mind flashed back to February 2022. A CRPF jawan with the CoBRA battalion, Toman was involved in an operation against Maoists in Jharkhand’s Lohardaga district. “We had information that there were Maoists there,” recalled Toman in a conversation with The Bridge. “We were climbing the hill, when they suddenly opened fire. “We were running helter skelter and then…,” he tails off. Toman stepped on an IED device. It triggered a blast and he was airlifted to Ranchi. The doctors had to amputate his left leg. The world came crashing down for …