India's 16-year-old para-archer Sheetal Devi produced a sensational effort in the final of the women's individual compound event at the Asian Para Games to win the gold medal. What makes her achievement all the more astonishing is that Sheetal is the only current female international archer to shoot with her feet.
This was her third medal of the Games after she partnered Rakesh Kumar to win gold in the compound mixed team event and a silver in the women's doubles along with Sarita.
Sheetal won the final despite trailing after the first three ends. She was behind 28-29, 56-58 and 84-87 in the first three ends against Singapore's Alim Nur Syahidah. Needing almost perfect shots in the next two ends, Sheetal hit remarkable 10s in her next six shots to take the gold with a final score of 144-142.
The rise of Sheetal
According to World Archery, Sheetal is the only current female international archer to shoot with her feet. Belonging to Loidhar village in Kishtwar, Jammu and Kashmir, Sheetal was born with Phocomelia, which is a rare congenital deformity in which the hands or feet are underdeveloped. Her sporting talent was discovered during a youth event organised by the Indian Army in her hometown in 2021. The coaches and the family tried to get a prosthetic arm, but it didn't fit.
Despite being disappointed, Sheetal didn't give up. A medical assessment showed she had a strong upper body, which made it favourable for her to take up archery. She told the Indian Express that her strong upper body is due to the fact she used to climb trees using her legs and upper body.
"I never thought I could do archery," she told the World Archery website. She joined coach Kuldeep Kumar's academy and started winning medals at the national competitions.
"I took her to the national championships. She was excited and saw many para-archers with different disabilities. She quickly got really interested in the sport," Kumar said."I told her to come to the academy and see other people shooting. I took her to the national championships. She was excited and saw many para-archers with different disabilities," he added.
Ten, ten, ten! Perfect scores! Devi Sheetal shot six consecutive ten rings in the last two rounds at the final of Women's Ind. Compound and won her first individual gold medal of Asian Games.#Hangzhou #AsianParaGames #HangzhouAsianParaGames #4thAsianParaGames #Hangzhou2022APG... pic.twitter.com/CV40QHpAHm
- The 4th Asian Para Games Hangzhou Official (@19thAGofficial) October 27, 2023
In fact, Sheetal competed in able-bodied events at the Under-18 level and won multiple medals. Earlier this year, Sheetal became the first female armless archer to win a medal at the World Para Archery Championships in Pilsen, Czech Republic. She claimed the silver medal after losing to Oznur Cure of Turkey in the final. When she was at the World Championships, she caught the eye of famous armless archer Matt Stutzman, who also helped her to perfect the technique.
Stutzman is a trailblazer in the para-archery, winning the silver medal at the 2012 Paralympic Games in London. "Matt was the first armless archer, and it was the first time I met him. I was very excited," Sheetal said to World Archery.
"I want her to be successful," Stutzman said. "She wants to win really bad. It's good she came because we can help her out."