2023 was a truly memorable year for Indian sport. With so much having happened, ESPN India picks ten images that tell the story of the most stunning moments we witnessed over the year. Our 1st pick is the extraordinary champion, Sheetal Devi.
By the time Sheetal Devi qualified for the final of the women's individual compound event at the Asian Para Games in Hangzhou, she had already achieved so much despite facing so many odds.
Belonging to Loidhar village in Kishtwar, Jammu and Kashmir, Sheetal was born with Phocomelia, a rare congenital deformity in which the hands or feet are underdeveloped. When she and a few local coaches realised that she could be good at sports, they tried to get her a prosthetic arm, but it didn't fit. Instead of giving up, Sheetal pushed even harder. After a physical test, which showed she can make it in sports because of her upper body strength, she chose archery in 2021.
In just two years, Sheetal started winning medals, both in able-bodied and para competitions.
At 16, Sheetal became world's first female armless archer to win a medal (silver) at the 2023 Para Archery World Championships. At the Hangzhou Asian Para Games, she had already won a gold partnering with Rakesh Kumar in the compound mixed team event and a silver in women's doubles competition with her teammate Sarita.
So, when she was trailing in the gold medal match of the individual event in Hangzhou, it didn't matter much in grand scheme of things. She was already a big winner, both on and off the field, and missing out on a gold medal wouldn't change this simple truth. But that's not how she saw it.
One of the defining qualities of great athletes is their clutch quotient. The ability to bring their absolute best to the game in crunch situations. Sheetal, considering how young she is, may not truly be a great yet, but her performance in the individual final at the Asian Para Games showed she's more than capable of achieving the mark of greatness.
Against Singapore's Alim Nur Syahidah, Sheetal lost the first three ends - 28-29, 56-58 and 84-87. With just two ends remaining, Sheetal needed near-perfect shots and for Syahidah to fumble for any chance of getting the gold. What followed was sheer sporting spectacle: 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, and... 10.
Using her legs and the upper body, Sheetal hit all 10s in her remaining six shots to beat Syahidah and clinch the gold medal with a final score of 144-142.
It shouldn't be counted only as one of this year's best sporting moments, this deserves a place in India's sporting history.