Para-archer Sheetal Devi qualifies for Asia Cup, earns selection for her first able-bodied international event

Indian para-archery star and Paralympic medallist Sheetal Devi has achieved a major career milestone by securing a place in the junior team for the upcoming Asia Cup Stage 3 in Jeddah marking her first selection in an able-bodied international competition.

At the national selection trials in Sonipat, where more than 60 able-bodied archers competed, the 18-year-old finished third in the final women’s compound rankings, ensuring her berth at the continental tournament.

Sheetal, who was born without arms due to phocomelia, said this moment has been a long-standing aspiration.

“When I began competing, I dreamt that someday I’d shoot alongside able-bodied archers,” she wrote on social media. “I didn’t succeed the first time, but I kept improving. Today, that dream is finally closer.”

Her journey towards this moment has been building for years, she first tested herself against able-bodied opponents at the junior nationals in Goa in 2022.

Since then, her rise has been phenomenal. Earlier this year, she became the first woman without arms to win a para-archery world title, capturing gold in the women’s compound open at the 2025 World Para Archery Championships in Gwangju. She beat Türkiye’s Paralympic champion Oznur Cure Girdi 146–143 in the final and also won team silver and mixed team bronze at the same event.

At the Paris 2024 Paralympics, Sheetal took bronze in the compound mixed team with Rakesh Kumar, becoming the youngest Indian to win a Paralympic medal in archery and only the second armless athlete in history to reach the Paralympic podium.

Her 2023 season included a world championship silver, two gold medals at the Asian Para Games, and finishing the year as the world No 1 in women’s compound para archery.

Next month in Jeddah, Sheetal will now enter a new chapter competing on the able-bodied international stage for the very first time.