 "Sheetal Devi: Meet the Indian archer without arms who won mixed team compound bronze at Paralympics")
Archer Sheetal Devi on Monday clinched bronze in the mixed team compound open category at the 2024 Paris Paralympics, just a few days after a one-point loss in the round of 16 in the individual compound category. On Monday, Sheetal teamed up with Rakesh Kumar, and reached the semi-finals where they lost to Iran’s Hadi Nori and Fatemeh Hemmati via a shoot-off.
The duo then faced Italy’s Matteo Bonacina and Eleonora Sarti, whom they defeated by just one point (156-155) as the Indian duo clinched bronze .
In the women’s individual compound open category on Saturday, Sheetal had lost to Chile’s Mariana Zuniga 137-138 after a spirited effort in the last 16.
At just 17, armless archer Sheetal Devi has captured the hearts of sports fans with her unwavering determination and unique archery style. Using her right leg to raise the bow, her right shoulder to pull the string, and the strength of her jaw to release the arrow, she performs all of this while seated on a chair.
Her archery is like watching poetry in motion but it also highlights anything is possible.
“I believe that no one has any limitations, it’s just about wanting something enough and working as hard as you can," she had said in an interview. “If I can do it, anyone else can.”
Paris Paralympics 2024: News | Medal Tally | India Schedule
Her message wasn’t just hollow words. On 29 August, in the individual women’s compound para archery ranking round in the Paris 2024 Paralympics, Sheetal finished second, missing a world para archery record by one point .
Impact Shorts
More Shorts"I made my parents proud. I made my coach proud. I made my country proud." 🇮🇳🥰
— Paralympic Games (@Paralympics) August 14, 2024
Introducing @Sheetal_archery, India's armless archery prodigy.#Paralympics #Paris2024 #ParaArchery pic.twitter.com/xrZ13RlbS2
Who is Sheetal Devi?
It’s amazing to think that Sheetal picked up archery only at the age of 15.
She was born on 10 January 2007 in Kishtwar district in Jammu and Kashmir with a condition called phocomelia due to which she had underdevloped arms. But that did not stop her from doing her own things. Sheetal trained herself to climb trees by using her legs or grip pencils by using her toes.
The biggest turning point in her life, however, came in 2022 when she was introduced to bow and arrow for the first time. After being scouted by the Indian Army, Sheetal was asked to visit the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board sports complex in Jammu’s Katra, around 200km away from her home.
At the sports complex, Sheetal met coaches Kuldeep Vedwan and Abhilasha Chaudhary, who were quick to spot her talent and decided to work with her. Soon Sheetal shifted to to a training camp in Katra city as the Army started to fund her education and medical requirements. They also tried to get prosthetics for her, but it did not work.
Nonetheless, Vedwan and Chaudhary decided to help her pursue archery with Matt Stutzman as an inspiration. Stutzman, the American armless archer is a silver medal winner from the 2012 Paralympics.
Just like Stutzman, Sheetal’s unfaltering energy saw her quickly make a mark in sport as she won an individual gold medal in the women’s compound event at the 2023 Asian Para Games. She also won gold in the mixed doubles event besides clinching a silver in the women’s double competition.
In 2023, Sheeta was conferred with the Arjuna Award by the government of India and also received the Best Youth Athlete of the Year by the Asian Paralympic Committee.
What are Sheetal Devi’s achievements?
—Asian Para Games 2022 (2023) - Gold medals in Individual and Mixed Team &
Silver medal in Women’s Team
—World Archery Para Championship (2023) - Silver medal in Individual
—Asian Para Championship (2023) - Gold medal in Mixed Team & Silver Medal in Individual
—Best Youth Athlete of the Year Award by Asian Paralympic Committee in 2023
Government support
—6 Foreign Exposures and Training in Thailand, UAE, Czech Republic, China, France
—National coaching camp at SAI Sonipat for 165 days
—Financial Assistance for Training and Competition
—Financial Assistance towards procurement of Archery bows, arrows and consumables
—Out of Pocket Allowance under TOPS
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