Katra, May 22: The Para-archers Rakesh Kumar and Sheetal Devi trained and groomed at SMVD Sports Complex have brought laurels to the country by winning five medals at Para Archery World Ranking Tournament held at Czech Republic.

Rakesh & Sheetal Devi put up a good fight in the high-intensity encounter against Italy and won gold in Compound open mixed team. Besides, Rakesh in Compound men open doubles won gold against France. Sheetal also clinched silver in compound women open and bronze in compound women doubles by defeating Italy. The Indian team secured nine medals out of which five medals were contributed by the Shrine archers.

          Hon’ble Lt. Governor who is also the Chairman of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board congratulated both the sports persons for their performance tweeted that 'the entire nation is proud of their achievement and their feat will inspire millions of our youth'. 

Dr. Ashok Bhan, Member, Shrine Board and Chairman of Governing Council of Shrine Board’s Sports Complex also extended his congratulations to both the participants for representing the country in the Czech Republic and their excellent performance in the event.

Anshul Garg, CEO, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board while congratulating both the sports persons added that the Shrine Board’s support extended towards sports is being appreciated and it is a matter of pride that players nurtured at SMVD Sports Complex are putting Jammu & Kashmir UT on the world map.

Notably, all these archers have been trained under the guidance of coaches Kuldeep Vedwan and Abhilasha Chaudhary at Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board’s Sports Complex, Katra. Rakesh Kumar, Para-archer is native of Katra while Sheetal belongs to Kishtwar but has been trained at the Shrine Board’s Sports Complex, Katra for the last about five years.

Shrine Board’s Sports Complex has been producing sportspersons of national and international standards in various sporting disciplines viz., Archery, Athletics, Judo, Shooting, Badminton etc, who have been showing promising results in varied competitions. Moreover, SMVDSB Archery Academy has been accredited under Khelo India by the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports, Govt. of India.