Mumbai: With a giggle, Sheetal Devi recalled travelling to Hangzhou, China in October 2023 for the Asian Para Games. In July that year, she had set the archery world abuzz by becoming the first armless woman to win a World Para Championship medal – silver on that occasion.
Yet for a teenager, who had known only the snow-clad mountains of Kashmir for most of her life, the sprawling metropolis in China where she was to compete in her first multi-sport event became an important stepping-stone in her illustrious career.
“I didn’t know what it was going to be like,” she said, smiling, during a virtual interaction organised by the Sports Authority of India. “After going there, I realised it is a huge platform with many athletes.”
She returned from Hangzhou with gold medals in the individual and mixed team events, and a silver in the women’s doubles. The achievements set her on course to becoming the world No.1 in her category two months later.
Now, she’s preparing to defend her titles as she sets her sights on the 2026 Asian Para Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan.
“The current plan is to train at the base in Patiala until May, and then try to go to the United States for a camp,” explained her coach Gaurav Sharma. “(In the US), there will be more archers in Sheetal’s category, so there will be better exposure.”
Since the triumphs in 2023, the 19-year-old paired up with Rakesh Kumar to win the mixed team bronze at the 2024 Paralympics in Paris. And last year, she won the individual gold at the Worlds.
The journey though has not been the smoothest.
In March last year, World Archery changed rules for gripping the bow, which meant that Sheetal would need to stretch more while taking aim.
“There was a lot of pain and the string would keep hitting her leg,” Sharma added, saying that they started working on the new gripping style in April 2025. “There was swelling and bleeding, but she was adamant. Our main goal was just to keep improving because there was not a lot of time before the Worlds. We persevered and the results came.”
At the most recent tournament she competed in – the World Archery Para Series in Bangkok – Sheetal finished second in the individual event to Payal Nag, a quadruple amputee who idolises Sheetal.
Nag’s emergence, an 18-year-old from Odisha, has led to calls that a rivalry is growing between the two, but Sheetal dismissed the notion. Instead, she welcomed Nag’s rise, saying: “It felt like I was alone here winning medals, but now it is great that (Nag) is here and India will get more medals.”
With her compatriot making a mark on the international stage, Sheetal is working towards perfecting her gripping technique as she prepares for the Asian Para Games. All the while, she’s keeping all the background noise away from her thoughts.
“Day by day, I just think about doing my best,” she said. “I constantly remind myself that I have to perform.”
The festivities from the Thai sojourn were short-lived. Just a few hours after returning from Thailand, as Sharma mentioned, Sheetal decided to head straight to training.
The work continues.
