'Jo maanga tha, woh mil gaya': Armless world champ Sheetal breaks new ground, makes able-bodied team

It was in November last year, on Amitabh Bachchan's 'Kaun Banega Crorepati' show, that para-archer Sheetal Devi expressed a wish: To one day compete alongside able-bodied athletes.

Exactly a year later, that dream is a reality.

Born without arms, the world compound champion from Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday shattered another barrier by being picked in the Indian able-bodied junior team for the upcoming Asia Cup Stage 3 in Jeddah -- the first para-athlete from India to achieve the feat.

"When I started competing, I had a small dream -- to one day compete alongside the able-bodied. I didn't make it at first, but I kept going, learning from every setback. Today, that dream is one step closer," Sheetal wrote on social media after the announcement.

Competing among more than 60 able-bodied archers under identical conditions at the national selection trials in Sonipat, the 18-year-old finished third overall after four days of competition.

She scored 703 points (352 351) in qualification, matching top qualifier Tejal Salve's total.

In the final rankings, Tejal (15.75 points) and Vaidehi Jadhav (15) took the top two spots, while Sheetal edged out Maharashtra's Dnyaneshwari Gadadhe (11.5) to claim third with 11.75 points.

Her journey to this point has been one of grit, re-invention, and quiet determination.

Sheetal, who earlier trained at the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board Sports Complex in Katra, has already etched her name in history as the first female armless world champion in para archery.

But the road after the Paris Paralympics, where she won a bronze medal in the mixed team event, was not easy.

Post-Paris, she shifted base to Patiala to train under coach Gaurav Sharma, who helped her rebuild her shooting stance following a rule change by World Archery that barred the heel from touching the bow.

The adjustment involved painful retraining to shoot using only the toe and front of the foot.

"She had to start from scratch,” Sharma told PTI.

"The new stance demanded immense control and stability. There were days her foot cramped in pain, but she never gave up. Her determination to perfect every detail made the difference."

In a social media post titled ‘Rising Above the Whispers', she had written about how she shut out the noise during her difficult phase.

“Earlier this year, I hit a rough patch. I missed practice sessions, lost matches, and that's when the whispers began: ‘one-time wonder', ‘her time has passed'. The new rules forced me to start from the basics again,” she wrote.

"I shut out the noise — no social media, no distractions. My coach told me, ‘Hume kisi ko jawab nahi dena... humara arrow jawab dega.'" as she went on to become the para world compound champion in Gwangju in September.

Always sorted

Sharma said he was not surprised by her turnaround as they had begun their preparation about a year back.

"She's always sorted, always focused. Honestly, I was in a daze when the final list came out. It's unexpected and unreal -- a para-athlete competing shoulder to shoulder with the country's best able-bodied archers."

The coach said the next goal would be to balance her para and able-bodied campaigns.

"Next year, the Asian Para Games will be our main focus, no doubt. But we also plan to trial her for the able-bodied senior event and see how she performs.

"Expectation keeps growing with performance -- if she wins a medal at the Asia Cup, it will be historic, the first time a para-athlete achieves that at international level."

He fondly recalled how Sheetal's journey had come full circle.

"In Kaun Banega Crorepati, she had said her dream was to represent India in able-bodied events and compete with the ‘normal' athletes. And in just one year, she's done it. Jo maanga tha, woh mil gaya."

Sheetal drew early inspiration from Turkey's Oznur Cure Girdi, the reigning Paralympic champion who has herself competed in able-bodied events at the World Cup and World Games, even reaching the pre-quarterfinals against some of the top names at Chengdu.

Oznur won her first-ever medal in an able-bodied competition at the Istanbul 2025 Conquest Cup in May.

Teams

Recurve: Men's: Rampal Choudhary (AAI), Rohit Kumar (Uttar Pradesh), Mayank Kumar (Haryana); Women: Kondapavuluri Yuktha Sri (Andhra Pradesh), Vaishnavi Kulkarni (Maharashtra), Kratika Bichpuriya (Madhya Pradesh).

Compound: Men: Pradhuman Yadav, Vasu Yadav, Devansh Singh (all Rajasthan); Women's: Tejal Salve, Vaidehi Jadhav (both Maharashtra), Sheetal Devi (Jammu and Kashmir).