Sheetal, who displayed a stunning performance in the qualification of Women’s Individual Compound Archery by breaking the previous World Record of 698 by shooting 703 points out of a possible 720 for a second-place finish, lost to Chile’s Zuniga Mariana by 137-138. Such a narrow margin prevented her from going into the knockout stages.
Read more: Meet Sheetal Devi, Indian archer who became a Para archery sensation against all odds
Sheetal was one of India’s biggest medal contenders, having secured three medals at the Asian Para Games in Hangzhou last year, including two gold medals in individual and mixed team compound competition and a silver in doubles compound competition.
Video:
The video has been making rounds on various social media platforms.
About India’s armless archer:
Aged 17, Indian archer born with the congenital disorder phocomelia has left everyone impressed by using her legs, shoulder, and jaw to shoot arrows with a compound bow, and she is currently ranked first in the world in the compound open women’s category. Devi’s achievements include a gold medal at the Asian Para Games 2023 and a silver at the Para-Archery World Championship 2023, enabling her to qualify for the Paris Paralympics. Born in a small village in Jammu district to a farming family, she had not encountered archery until 2022. Devi’s introduction to the sport came through the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board sports complex in Katra, where she met her coaches, Abhilasha Chaudhary and Kuldeep Vedwan.
(with agency inputs)
