Sonipat (Haryana) [India], November 7 : India's Paralympic medallist Sheetal Devi etched her name in history by qualifying for her first able-bodied international meet on Thursday. Sheetal earned a place in the junior archery team for the Asia Cup Stage 3 in Jeddah, scheduled to commence next month.
The 18-year-old, who hails from Jammu and Kashmir, competed against more than 60 able-bodied archers at the four-day national selection trials, according to Olympics.com. With a remarkable display, Sheetal finished third in the final women's compound rankings and will compete in the women's compound event at the Asia Cup. Sheetal, who was born without arms due to a rare congenital condition called phocomelia, has recently achieved her long-held dream.
"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 in a post on Instagram.
In her first attempt, Sheetal tested against the body-abled archers at the 2022 Junior Nationals in Goa but failed to secure a place on the team. In September, Sheetal made history by bagging the gold medal in the women's individual compound archery category at the ongoing World Para Archery Championship.
Sheetal defeated Turkey's world number one Oznur Cure Girdi by 146-143 in the gold medal clash. This is her third medal at the Championships, having earlier won the mixed team bronze with Toman Kumar and beating Great Britain's pair of Jodie Grinham and Nathan MacQueen 152-149.
Sheetal's consistency and composure turned out to be the difference. The first end was tied 29-all, but Sheetal fired three tens in the second end, to take an early lead of 30-27.
The third end was also tied at 29-all, and Sheetal experienced a lapse towards the end, scoring 28 points, and Girdi shot 29, but Sheetal still had the overall lead by 116-114. With three perfect arrow hits to score 30, Sheetal secured her maiden gold medal.
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