By Rounak Khare
On Thursday, paralympic medalist Sheetal Devi qualified for India’s able-bodied archery team for the Asia Cup Stage 3. After becoming the first female armless world champion in para archery this year, she has secured her place in the junior archery team. The tournament is scheduled to be held in Jeddah in December.
Sheetal Devi finished third in the final women’s compound rankings in the four-day national selection trials held at Sonipat, where she competed against 60 able-bodied archers, and is set to represent the country at the women’s compound event at the Asia Cup. In the national selection trials, she scored 703 points in the qualification rounds. She scored 352 points in the first round and 351 in the second round, which matched her to Tejal Salve’s total, who is the top qualifier.
In the final rankings, Tejal Salve and Vaidehi Jadhav took the first two spots, with 15.5 points and 15 points respectively. Sheetal Devi secured the third place with 11.75 points, securing the position by a margin of just 0.25 points from Maharashtra’s Dnyaneshwari Gadadhe.
“When I started competing, I had a small dream – to one day compete alongside the able-bodied and win medals. I didn’t make it at first, but I kept going, learning from every setback” she wrote, sharing the news of her selection through a post on X. Due to a rare congenital condition called phocomelia, Sheetal Devi was born with no arms.
After winning the gold medal in the women’s compound open event at the 2025 World Para Archery Championships in Gwangju, Republic of Korea, she became the first female world champion in para archery this year. At the 2024 Paris Paralympics, 17 year old Sheetal Devi won the bronze medal in the compound mixed team event with Rakesh Kumar, and became the youngest Indian to win a medal at the Paralympics.