Archer Sheetal Devi carry her bow, load am wit arrow, carefully aim her target wit intense focus wey show for her face.
Her opponent dey do di same tin as dem dey play practice game for one training academy for India.
Di difference be say Devi dey sidon as she raise di bow wit her right leg, pull di string wit her right shoulder and release di arrow wit her jaw.
Devi wey be 17-year-old come from Jammu district – dem born am wit phocomelia, wey be rare congenital disorder. Dis make am di first and only woman archer for world wey go compete witout arms.
Di Asian Para Games gold medallist dey get set for di Paralympics, wey go begin on 28 August for Paris.
Devi tok say, “I dey inspired to win di gold. Weneva I see di medals I don win, I dey inspired to win more. I just dey start.”
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Around 4,400 athletes from across di world dey land dis year to participate for di Paralympics.
Archery don dey part of di Games since e start for 1960. While kontris like Great Britain, USA and South Korea don dey lead di medal count, India don account for solitary bronze medals across 17 editions.
Para-archers dey grouped into different categories depending on dia level of disabilities.
Di distance dem go need shoot from dey different based on di classification system, wey go determine weda archer need help like wheelchairs and release aids.
Archers wey dey compete for di W1 category na di ones wey dey use wheelchair, wey get wahala for at least three out of di four limbs and get clear loss of muscle strength, coordination or range of movement.
Di ones wey dey di open category get impairment for di top or bottom half or for one isde of dia body and dey use wheelchair, or get balance issues and dey shoot standing or by resting on stool. Di competitors dey either use recurve or compound bows depending on di event.
Devi dey ranked first for world as at now for di compound open women category.
For 2023, she bin win silver for di Para-Archery World Championship wey help am qualify for di Paris Games.
For Paris, she go face ogbonge opponents like world number three Karla Gogel and di reigning World Championship winner Oznur Cure.
But pipo wey sabi am tok say she dey destined to play and win.
“Sheetal no choose archery, na archery choose Sheetal,” one of Devi two national coaches, Abhilasha Chaudhary, tok.
Dem born Devi for one small village to farming family, she no see bow and arrow till she reach 15.
Tins turn around for am for 2022 wen she go di Shri Mato Vaishno Devi Shrine Board sports complex for Jammu Katra wey one friend bin tell am to go.
Na dia she meet Chaudhary and her oda coach, Kuldeep Vedwan wey introduce am to archery. She later shift go training camp for Katra city.
Di coaches vision na to use di strength for Devi leg and upper bodi and las-las e work.
Devi say di strength come from years wey she dey use her legs to do most tins like writing and climbing trees wit her friends.
But she bin get doubts.
She say, “I bin feel say e dey impossible. My legs bin dey pain me wella but las-las I do am.”
Wen she dey low, na American archer Matt Stutzman wey dey shoot wit im leg too dey inspire am. But e dey do im own wit customised device.
Devi family no fit afford a similar machine, so her coach Vedwan take am upons imsef to create a bow for am.
Im bin use locally-sourced materials and customise am for her needs at one local forge shop.
Di gear get upper bodi strap wey dem make from material wey dem dey take make bag belts and one small instrument wey Devi dey hold wit mouth to fit release di arrow.
Di real wahala bin dey to find how she fit use pass her legs to form well rounded sustainable technique.
Chaudhary explain say, “we bin need to manage how to balance di strength for her legs, modify am as she go fit use am technically. Devi get strong legs but we bin need find out how she go fit use her back take shoot.”
Di three of dem start wit measured training routine. Dis na wia Devi use rubber band or TheraBand instead of bow to aim targets wey dey just 5m away.
As her confidence dey rise, na so dem start to raise difficulty and in just four months afta she start, Devi start to use proper bow and dey hit distance of 50m wey be competition standard for compound open category.
In just two years, Devi bin go from learning to shoot arrow for small distance, to hit six 10s for a row for di final of di women individual compound event for di Asian Para Games for 2023 wey win am gold medal.
10 na di most points player fit win for single shot by say dem hit bullseye for di target board.
Devi say, “Even wen I shoot nine, wetin I dey reason na how to turn am to 10 for di next shot.”
No be just hard work for Devi, she don sacrifice for dis journey join.
Devi say she neva go house for one day since she move go Katra two years ago to train.
She dey plan say she go go back house afta Paralympics finish, “hopefully wit medal”.
Las-las she go give am her best shot.
She say, “If I fit do am, anyone else fit.”
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