World’s First Armless Archer From India

Sheetal Devi, a 16-year-old girl from Jammu and Kashmir recently became the World’s First Armless Archer. She was born with a rare medical condition called Phocomelia. This caused her to be born without both hands. 

In 2019, Sheetal Devi participated in a youth event at Mughal Maidan. During this event, Her skills and determination caught the attention of the Rashtriya Riffles unit of the Indian Army. They quickly took her under their care. 

She trained under Kuldeep Baidwan, the National Coach of Archery (Paralympics). Over the years, she participated in national archery competitions and improved her archery skills. This year, she took part in the Para-Archery World Championship 2023, which was held at Pilsen in the Czech Republic. The championship started on July 17 and came to an end on July 23. Apart from Sheetal Devi, there were two other specially-abled (people with physical or mental impairment) archers in the championship. Sheetal made everyone proud when she won a Silver medal at the Para-Archery World Championship 2023.