On Thursday morning, Sheetal Devi sealed her spot in the Indian junior team for Asia Cup 2025 Stage 3 to be held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, from December 10 to 15, breaking new ground once more. It would be the first time that the newly-crowned Para Archery World Champion would be playing in an able-bodied tournament. The 18-year-old para archer spoke with her parents Mann Singh and Shakti Devi and brother Ajay Kumar at Loidhar village in Kishtwar over phone, remembering the times she failed to go past the trials for able-bodied events in the past. Devi finished third in the trials in Sonepat behind Tejal Rajendra Salve and Vaidehi Jadhav, and forms the Indian team along with fourth-placed Dnyaneshwari Gadadhe.
“I had competed in the able-bodied trials in 2023 as well as earlier this year once but could not get past the qualification stage. Whenever I compete with the bow and arrow, I only compete against myself. Whether it’s para archery or able-bodied, I have not seen myself as lesser than anybody. And that’s what I was thinking on all three days of the trials. Competing in my first able-bodied international event is a new step in my journey, and I know like always, Mata Vaishno Devi will help me achieve my dreams,” Devi told The Indian Express.
In Sonepat, Devi scored a total of 2103 points out of the total 2160 in the first round. In the second event of the trials, Devi competed in 11 round robin matches where she won six and lost five. The third round saw Sheetal winning against Jadhav before a loss against Salve followed by a win against Gadadhe to secure her spot in the four-member Indian team.
“While I had adjusted my shooting technique with redrawing, the technique of shooting the arrow with only the toe and front part of the foot due to change in rules, it also made me practice for a bit longer to adjust to the new technique. It helped me mentally as well physically too to prepare what the trials demand, where there are multiple matches and the higher number of opponents one faces in comparison to the field of 64 or 32 at an international para event,” Devi expained.
Earlier this year, Devi had claimed the silver medal in the Khelo India NTPC National Ranking Archery event in Delhi, an able-bodied event where she lost against Ekta Rani in the final. She also competed at the trials in the able-bodied category for the World Youth Championships where she would suffer a first-round exit. Last year, Devi had shifted base to Patiala to train under coaches Gaurav Sharma and Kulvinder Singh along with Dronacharya awardee Jiwanjot Singh Teja.
Sheetal Devi with coach Gaurav Sharma after the trials. (Image via Special Arrangement)
Sharma talks about how training in Patiala with able-bodied archers, some of them in the Indian junior and senior teams, helped Devi. She also had conversations with serial international medallist Jyothi Surekha, 2021 World Championship mixed team bronze medallist Abhishek Verma, 2023 world champion Ojas Deotale and 2025 World Championship mixed team silver medallis Rishabh Yadav.
“Once we got the new technique right, Sheetal was back to shooting with full confidence. In Patiala, she would train along with other international junior and senior archers and spend time with them at the national camps in Sonepat too. Normally she shoots close to 250-300 arrows in a day and the challenge was to make her adjust to the trials format in able-bodied events, where the number of matches range from 8 to 12. So we worked on her endurance. She has been mentally strong and she saw these matches as the same routine where she shoots 250-300 arrows per day. Of course, winning the Para World title has also added to her confidence a lot, and she will improve only,” shares Sharma.
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With mixed compound archery events now being included in the LA Olympics, Devi shares that it’s still a long way to go and she has not thought about it. “Woh toh abhi bahut dur hai. Abhi toh shuruat hai international field main. (LA 2028 is far, my international journey is just starting),” says Devi.
Sharma shares that they have next year’s Asian Games in sight, with plans for Devi to appear at the trials in January next year. “Sheetal will be competing in the Asian Games trials for sure and our target is to make the Indian team for the Asian Games. Yes, it will be a tough task but we believe that Sheetal can achieve that,” says Sharma.
Last month had also seen Devi spending more than 20 days at her village, a first in many years and also celebrated Diwali at home. She also attended the Indian Army-organised archery events in Doda. “Finally I could spend much-needed time at my village. It was also heartening to see so many youngsters competing in archery in Doda,” Devi said.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
