Armless Archer Sheetal Devi Claims Second Place in Paralympics Ranking

India's armless archer, Sheetal Devi, secured second place in the women's individual compound open ranking round at the Paris Paralympics. The 17-year-old from Jammu and Kashmir, who uses her legs to shoot due to being born without arms, scored 703 points out of a possible 720. This performance earned her a direct entry into the round of 16.

Record-Breaking Performance

Devi's score surpassed the previous world record of 698 set by Phoebe Pine Paterson of Great Britain earlier this month. However, Oznur Girdi Cure of Turkey set a new record with 704 points, placing first. Devi shot 59 tens and 24 Xs, while Cure had 56 tens and 29 Xs in the 72-arrow contest.

The top four finishers in the ranking round, including Devi, received byes from the round of 32 competition. They will compete in the round of 16 on Saturday. Devi will face the winner of the match between Mariana Zuniga of Chile and Choi Na Mi of Korea, who finished 15th and 18th respectively in the ranking round.

Other Indian Competitors

Another Indian competitor, Sarita, finished ninth with a score of 682. She will face Abdul Jalil Nur Jannaton of Malaysia in the round of 32 on Friday. In the men's individual recurve open ranking round, Tokyo Paralympics bronze medallist Harvinder Singh finished ninth with a score of 637. He will compete against Tseng Lung-Hui of Chinese Taipei on September 4.

In men's individual compound open ranking round, Rakesh Kumar and Shyam Sundar Swami finished fifth and 15th with scores of 696 and 688 respectively. In women's individual recurve open ranking round, Pooja finished seventh with a score of 585.

Devi's Journey

Discovered at a military camp in Kishtwar, Jammu and Kashmir, Devi was adopted by the Indian Army during her childhood. She became the first armless woman to win a Para World Archery Championships medal last year. Devi was born with phocomelia syndrome, a rare congenital disorder that kept her limbs underdeveloped.

During last year's Asian Para Games in Hangzhou, China, Devi became the first Indian woman to win two gold medals in a single edition of the Games. She won gold medals in women's individual compound and mixed team events and a silver in women's doubles.

Para-Archery Classification

In para-archery, athletes from two classes—wheelchair W1, W2 and open—compete in the same event at the Paralympic Games. For wheelchair para-archers, their arms must show some degree of muscle strength loss, coordination issues or limited range of movement. Open category para-archers can compete standing up or leaning on a stool and have either extremely limited trunk and limb movement or balance issues.

Competitions include a ranking round where archers shoot 72 arrows over distances of 50m or 70m. Each archer has four minutes to shoot six arrows. After this round, para-archers compete head-to-head in elimination rounds consisting of five ends using three arrows per end.

Sheetal Devi competes standing up while Oznur Girdi Cure competes in W2 category. The events include recurve and compound bows as well as mixed team competitions.

Sheetal Devi's remarkable achievements highlight her determination and skill despite her physical challenges. Her journey continues to inspire many as she aims for further success at the Paris Paralympics.