Sheetal Devi is an Indian para-athlete who competes in archery at national and international levels. In 2023, she made history by becoming the first female archer to reach the World Archery Finals.
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Wiki/Biography
Sheetal Devi was born in 2007 (age 16; as of 2023) in the remote village of Loi Dhar in the Kistwar district of Jammu and Kashmir. He grew up in a family that did not have access to basic amenities. In 2022, he studied in the 10th grade. Since childhood, he loved going to school, but he was afraid that he could not study like other children because of his disability. However, with the support of her family and friends, Sheetal did well in her studies. In 2022, coach Kuldeep Vedwan came to know about Sheetal Devi through army personnel. Vedwan soon asked Sheetal to join him at the Vaishno Devi Shrine Board’s Archery Academy, Katra, where he trained him in archery. A special bow was prepared for him, which he had to shoot not with his hands, but with his legs and chest. Within six months Sheetal mastered and achieved great knowledge and started participating in competitions. Recognizing his talent, the army took responsibility for funding his education. At the same time, the army also made significant efforts to provide medical care and prosthetic limbs.
Physical appearance
Height (approx): 5′ 3″
Hair color: brown
Eye color: brown
family
parents and siblings
Sheetal Devi’s father is a farmer. His mother is a goatherd. He has a younger sister, Shivani.
Sheetal Devi’s father
Sheetal Devi with her mother
Sheetal Devi with her younger sister Shivani
Career
Sheetal Devi started her sports career in November 2022 with the Junior National Archery Championship where she had to compete against able-bodied athletes. She subsequently participated in the Handball India National and Women’s Handball India Games where she performed well.
Sheetal Devi during the tournament
He made his international debut in May 2023 at a para-tournament held in the Czech Republic, where he won two silver medals and a bronze. Two months later, Sheetal participated in the Para Archery Championship 2023. On the first day of the championship, she placed fourth in the tough women’s qualifying round, scoring only eight points less than her compatriot Sarita. It should be noted that the duo managed to set a new world record in the doubles game. In the semi-finals, the amateur athlete beat his compatriot Sarita, and secured a place in the final match with a convincing score of 137-133. Sheetal is the first female archer to reach the World Finals.
Sheetal Devi takes aim during an archery tournament
Medals and achievements
- Silver in Handball India Nationals
- Bronze in Women’s Handball India Games
- Two silver medals and a bronze medal at the para tournament held in the Czech Republic
- took first place at the Para-Asian Games
Facts/Trivia
- Sheetal was born without hands.
- Sheetal imitates famous archer Matt Stutzman by holding his bow with her foot.
Sheetal Devi with Matt Stutzman and her coach Kuldeep Vedwan
- In 2022, when Sheetal took up archery, she became the world’s first female archer without arms. However, in 2023, there are a total of six archers without arms in the world.
- In July 2023, Sheetal was ranked world No. 18 in the Compound Women’s Open.
- Until July 2023, her best qualifying score for Compound Women was 682.
- Speaking about Shetta in an interview, her coach Kuldeep Vedwani said:He came to the academy more than eight months ago and started training. He was born unarmed and his ability was obvious to all. His dedication to sports can be seen in the fact that he comes to practice early in the morning and then leaves for school. After the lessons, he returns to training. When it’s a holiday, he starts at 7am, breaks for lunch and then finishes at 5pm. Sheetal is a para-athlete but she competes against normal athletes. There is a selection process that is going on for the tournament that he participated in and he did very well.”
- In an interview, Sheetal revealed that she initially wanted prosthetics so that she could live a normal life and pursue a teaching career. However, her life took a marked turn when she crossed paths with Preeti Rai, founder of an NGO in Bengaluru, Being You. Preet was the one who brought out Sheetal’s inner strength and encouraged her to explore archery as a potential career choice. Hesitant at first, Sheetal finally made the decision to join the academy and begin his journey in sports.
- In 2023, Shetal was the only recurve archer to compete at the World Para Championships.
- In a media interaction, Coach Abhilasha from Shrine Board Academy shared the challenges they faced while introducing Sheetal to archery. He said that after witnessing other para archers at the academy, Sheetal was inspired and interested in the sport. The academy arranged a special bow for him and it is worth noting that he mastered archery in just six months. Even Sheetal started participating alongside the regular archers and not just the para archers. Teaching archery to Sheetal, especially the technique of shooting arrows without hands, proved to be a difficult task for his coaches. To help him, Kuldeep and Abhilasha showed Sheetal videos of Matt Stutzman, a famous unarmed archer from the US, which greatly helped his progress. Matt himself visited the academy, met Sheetal and gave valuable suggestions to modify his bow. With a Paralympic medalist background, Matt scored 685 points, while Shetal excelled at the academy with 689 points.
Categories: Sports
Source: dienchau2.edu.vn
