From inspiration to rival: Sheetal–Payal duel lights up para archery

World No. 1 para archer eyes Asian Games glory

From the remote village of Loidhar in Jammu & Kashmir emerged an inspiring tale of a young girl, born without arms. Defying all odds, she struck the bullseye releasing arrows using her feet and leaving audiences in awe of her determination and talent.

Since her first breakthrough around three years ago, Sheetal Devi has gone on to win multiple medals at the international stage -- became a world champion, a Para Olympic bronze medallist (2024 Paris), attained the world No. 1 status and also went head-to-head with able-bodied archers and even defeated a few of them. 

While accumulating the accolades and recognition of a new-found life through her sport, what the 19-year-old was oblivious to was the number of people, especially young girls like herself, she was inspiring. And one among them, 18-year-old Payal Nag, has now become Sheetal's biggest competitor and their recent duels are being touted as the beginning of a long and healthy rivalry in para compound archery.

What makes Payal's story more endearing is that the teen from a town called Balangir in Odisha is a quadruple amputee who lost all four limbs due to electrocution. Flipping her story through archery and looking up to Sheetal for inspiration, Payal now shares a head-to-head record of 2-2 with her idol. And the latest fight to the finish line between the duo came when Payal edged Sheetal for a gold at the World Archery Para Series in Bangkok, Thailand last weekend. 

"It doesn't matter if I lose or win. It feels good that Payal has come up and is doing well. It used to feel like I am alone. But not anymore," said Sheetal during a media interaction organised by the Sports Authority of India. 

"Finishing first or second is a part of the game. It's not a big deal. It's good that India got two medals. And I'm really happy that Payal is doing well too." 

The journey to learn the nuances of archery when Sheetal started off has undoubtedly been an arduous one. But a 2025 World Archery rule change, which prohibited para-archers from letting the bow touch their heel while shooting arrows, forced Sheetal to almost start from scratch all over again. 

"She needed six months to adapt as the pain and stress levels of incorporating the new position of shooting an arrow changed," offered Gaurav Sharma, Sheetal's coach. 

"When the new rule was introduced, she was already No. 1. So there was a lot of noise that this could be the end of Sheetal and such negative talks. But she worked so hard to adapt. There were days when there would be swelling, bleeding (in the toes, feet). But she didn't give up and remained focused," explained Gaurav.  

"I stopped answering phone calls, ignored comments on social media and just focussed on training and worked on getting the grip right," said Sheetal, who went on to win individual gold at the World Para Archery Championships in Gwangju, South Korea and was named the Para Archer of 2025 - both after the new rule came into effect. 

The resilient young woman has now set her eyes on the Para Asian Games in Japan along with the other big international events of the season. And from now on, Sheetal is aware that she is no more the 'one and only' as an able competitor from her homeland will keep her on her toes.