Sheetal Devi – an armless archer from J&K making India proud in Asian Para Games 2023

Archery is a sport that requires skills, precision, vision, concentration and good control. Sheetal Devi, a 16-year-old archer from the state of Jammu & Kashmir, has all of those but not hands, and yet she claimed the top prize in the Asian Para Games 2023 in Hangzhou. Born with Phocomelia, a rare congenital disorder that causes under-developed limbs, Sheetal defied all odds to stand tall on her feet, making India proud internationally.

Hailing from Loidhar village in Kishtwar, Jammu and Kashmir, Sheetal is the ‘first female archer without arms to compete internationally’, per the sport’s governing body – World Archery. This week at the Asian Para Games, she claimed not one but three medals, including a gold, in different categories.

Having won a silver in the women’s compound earlier, Sheetal won two medals in the mixed doubles and women’s individual category. On Friday (Oct 27), Sheetal clinched the gold medal in the women’s compound final, beating Alim Nur Syahidah of Singapore by shooting six consecutive ten rings in the last two rounds.

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“Initially, I could not even lift the bow properly. But, after practising for a couple of months, it became easier,” Sheetal told The Indian Express on Thursday. 

“My parents always had faith in me. My friends in the village also supported me. The only thing I didn’t like was the look on people’s faces when they realised that I don’t have arms. These medals prove that I am special. These medals are not just mine, but of the whole country,” the Indian para-shooter added.

Outside of claiming a superb gold medal win, Sheetal also won a women’s team silver, pairing up with Sarita, and a mixed team gold with Rakesh Kumar. These achievements look gigantic for someone who picked up archery as a sport only years back.

From a school-going girl to winning medals at the Asian Para Games, Sheetal has come a long way. Unaware of her abilities, Sheetal was suggested to take up sports that are upper-body related upon assessment, including archery and swimming. 

Following a collective decision from Sheetal and the doctors involved, the Indian para-archer took up this sport and began her journey. Sheetal joined Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board Sports Complex in Katra.

Abhilasha Chaudhary and Kuldeep Vedwan, the two coaches at the centre, had never trained an athlete without arms but had watched 2012 London Paralympics silver medallist Matt Stutzman using his legs for taking a shot before.

“We modified a locally-made releaser into a shoulder releaser. We also put together a string mechanism for the chin and mouth to create the trigger to help her release the arrow. We improvised based on what we saw Mark Stutzman using,” said Chaudhary.

Starting from shooting 50-100 arrows daily, Sheetal upped her level, and as her strength grew, she was training while shooting 300 in a day. Six months later, Sheetal won a silver at the Para Open Nationals in Sonipat and finished fourth while competing against able-bodied archers at the Open Nationals.

“When Kuldeep Sir made me train with the bow for the first time, I thought I could never do it. But as he made me understand the technique, I felt I should give it a try,” Sheetal said.

Meanwhile, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also congratulated her on her gold medal win.

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