Sheetal Devi, the Champion Indian Para-archer, Without the Upper Limbs

Sheetal Devi, the Champion Indian Para-archer, Without the Upper Limbs
Pradip Krishna Chatterjee, 1977 Mechanical Engineering

16 years old Sheetal Devi (born 10 January 2007), now the internationally recognised Indian Para-archer, was born in a remote village Loidhar of Kishtwar district in Jammu & Kashmir. She was born with a rare medical condition of without the upper limbs, called phocomelia. However, despite all challenges she became the first and the only international para-archery champion. On 31st December 2023, she was titled the “Best Para Women Archer of the Year” by the World Archery Federation.

In the women’s compound bow at the 2022 Asian Para Games. Sheetal Devi received two gold medals in mixed doubles and women’s individual after winning a silver medal in women’s double compound. In the women’s compound competition at the Para Asian Games final, she achieved a gold medal.

In 2019, the Indian army coaches Abhilasha Chaudhary and Kuldeep Wadhwan noticed Sheetal in an event organized by Indian army in Kishtwar and decided to train her. As she was born with phocomelia, she had no arms. So firstly, the coaches decided to help her with prosthetics. But the medics said that prosthetics were not possible in her case. She said that she was fond of and was expert in climbing trees using her legs that was her past-time. That actually helped her build a strong upper body which proved to be a turning point later in her life. That was a very pleasant surprise for the coaches. The coaches had challenges to face, they had never trained a person for archery who has no arms but did some research whether it was possible to train her, and eventually they came to know about Matt Stutzman, who was armless and used his legs for archery. This gave hopes to the coaches, and She joined former archer and coach Kuldeep Vedwan’s academy. Despite competing among the abled archers at the national competitions, Sheetal Devi’s talent was for all to see.

Using her legs and feet akin to para-archery legend Stutzman, Sheetal Devi embraced the unconventional shooting technique and competed at the Para Archery National Championship in Haryana in March-April 2022. Vedwan said the tournament was crucial as it helped Sheetal Devi get formal recognition as an Indian para-archer. Six months later, Sheetal Devi competed at the Junior National Championships among abled archers in Goa. While she did not win any medal, her performance proved to be a shot in the arm for her coach as well as Sheetal. Within 11 months of training. Sheetal participated in Asian Para Games and won two gold medals for India.

Then she claimed a silver medal in the open women’s compound archery event at the World Archery Para Championships 2023 in the Czech Republic in July. She was the first female armless archer to win a medal at the Para World Championships. The medal also helped Sheetal to become a member for India for the forthcoming Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. Her stellar debut season continued at the Asian Para Games 2023 in October. She bagged gold medals in the individual compound and in mixed team events apart from winning the silver medal in the women’s doubles.

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.

While most might have to devote years on the training grounds before making their mark on the global stage, Sheetal Devi proved she was among the elite few who were gifted with exceptional skills.

Sheetal was named the Best Youth Athlete of the Year by the Asian Paralympic Committee and was nominated to receive the Arjuna Award 2023. Sheetal was escorted by fellow compound archer Romica Sharma, also from Jammu and Kashmir, during international events to help in day-to-day activities. “I oversee her practice sessions, carry the arrows, luggage, besides supervising her stretching work as well as ensuring her scoring,” Romica says. “Off the field also, I help in feeding her as well as speaking to her whenever she needs a helping hand.

“I feel more like a sister to her even though I’m a good friend of hers,” Romica adds. “Whenever she is travelling anywhere alone, I feel anxious about how she is doing. She is a little ziddi (persistent) as well as masoom (innocent) and also watches a lot of serials!”

With a Paralympic quota already secured for India, Sheeta Devi will look to become the youngest woman from the country to win a gold at the Paralympics in Paris 2024.
World Archery also named Sheetal Devi the Best Women’s Para Archer of the Year for 2023.

• Best Women Para Archer of the Year 2023 by World Archery
• World Archery Para Championships 2023 silver medal – women’s individual compound open archery.
• Asian Para Games 2023 gold medal – women’s individual compound open archery.
• Asian Para Games 2023 gold medal – mixed doubles compound open archery.
• World No. 1 women’s compound para-archer in the open category in 2023.
• Khelo India Para Games 2023 gold medal – women’s individual compound open archery.
• Arjuna Award 2023.
• Best Youth Athlete of the Year 2023 by the Asian Paralympic Committee.

Source: Wikipedia & Olympics.com