Top 50 Moments of 2017: No. 25 - Nemati on top of the world

Iran’s Zahra Nemati returned to the Para archery World Championships scene for the first time in four years and showed she is still at the top of her class.

Nemati united her Paralympic gold from Rio 2016 with gold from the 2017 World Archery Para Championships in Beijing, China. Her continued success in the sport is No. 25 on the International Paralympic Committee’s Top 50 Moments of 2017.

Nemati had won the women’s recurve world title back in 2013 but skipped the 2015 World Championships to focus on able-bodied events and qualifying for the Olympics at Rio 2016.

At the Rio 2016 Paralympics, Nemati successfully defended her recurve title from London 2012, but whether or not she would compete at the 2017 Worlds was not clear.

She did return, and showed she remains the best in her class.

The Iranian recurve archer avoided a near upset from Turkey’s Merve Nur Eroglu by winning 6-2 in an intense final.

Eroglu lost the match with a miss after running out of time in the third end, fighting back tears throughout the medal ceremony. It would not have mattered if she had hit with that arrow, though, as Nemati finished with a perfect 10-10-10 for an emphatic victory. China’s defending champion Wu Chunyan took the bronze medal.

“This means that everything will be the way that I want,” Nemati said at the Championships. “It proves that with hope and determination I can get whatever I wish.”

Shortly before her individual gold medal match at the event, she also won World Championship bronze in the mixed team open with countryman Pouriya Jalalipour.

The countdown of the IPC’s Top 50 Moments continues until 31 December.