TWO women from Shenzhen will join the national squad of athletes for the 2008 Beijing Paralympics Games, which open Sept. 6.

Wheelchair archer Xiao Yanhong and basketballer Zhang Santao will make history for Shenzhen, becoming the city's first athletes to appear in the Games, the Shenzhen Special Zone Daily reported yesterday.

Xiao, 30, a Shenzhen native, won China's first medal at the 2007 IPC World Wheelchair Archery Championships. She was also elected a torchbearer for the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games.

Xiao was left paralyzed after a car accident in 2002. She began learning archery in 2006.