Sheetal Devi scripts history, becomes first female armless archer to reach Para Worlds final

Indian archer Sheetal Devi scripted history as she became the first armless female archer ever to reach the final of the World Archery Para Championships in Plzen, Czech Republic.

The 16-year-old compound archer defeated fellow Indian Sarita by a narrow 137-133 margin in the semifinal on Friday.

Seeded fourth in the event, Sheetal, who holds her bow with her foot resembling the style of famous armless archer Matt Stutzman, had shot eight points fewer than Sarita in the qualifying round.

Sheetal, who is ranked 18th in para compound archery, is the only armless female archery competing in the championships.

Her performance at the event denoted the progress she made in a short time after she took up the bow and arrow only a year ago.

Born with phocomelia syndrome in Jammu and Kashmir, Sheetal never thought of taking up archery, where the use of hands is integral.

“I never thought I could do archery,” she was quoted as saying by World Archery.

It was her coach Kuldeep Kumar who spotted the potential in her and helped her become an archer.

“I told her to come to the academy and see other people shooting,” he said. She progressed rapidly. “I took her to the national championships. She was excited and saw many para archers with different disabilities. She quickly got really interested in the sport.”

Sarita-Rakesh seals Paris Paralympics quota place

Meanwhile, the Indian mixed doubles pairing of Sarita and Rakesh is also in contention for gold as they defeated United Kingdom's Stretton and Macqueen in the semifinal. With this show, Rakesh and Sarita also booked a quota place in the Paris Paralympics.

Sheetal and Rakesh-Sarita's qualifications for the final also confirmed India's maiden medals in the championships.