Quadruple amputee Payal Nag defies all odds to stun world No 1 Sheetal Devi at World Archery Para Series

Payal Nag produced a stunning upset to defeat fellow Indian and world No 1 Sheetal Devi and clinch gold as India finished top of the standings at the World Archery Para Series in Bangkok with seven gold medals. The teenage quadruple amputee archer defeated her decorated compatriot by a 139-136 scoreline in the compound women's final on Saturday to cap off a memorable campaign as India signed off from the tournament with 13 medals – winning three silver and as many bronze medals in addition to seven gold.

Payal exhibits remarkable composure to beat her highly-decorated opponent

Payal defeated Sheetal for the second time in the span of a year, having previously triumphed over the 2025 World Championships gold medallist at the Para Nationals in Jaipur in January 2025. The 18-year-old showed remarkable composure to defeat her decorated opponent in what is only her second international event, having previously made her debut at the Asian Youth Para Games in Dubai last year.

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Watch Payal's victory over Sheetal here:

Payal began the contest on a strong note by hitting a perfect 10 and took the opening end 27-25. Sheetal, however, fought back impressively to level the scores at 54-all at the end of the second end.

She aced the next two rounds to seal what should be the biggest win of her career yet, shooting two 9s and a 10 to move to open up an 82-80 lead before collecting two 10s in the final end.

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Payal, the daughter of a migrant labourer from Odisha’s Balangir district, has a lot in common with 2024 Paralympics bronze medallist Sheetal. She is after all a find of the latter's childhood coach Kuldeep Vedwan.

The two had even trained alongside each other at the Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board Sports Complex in Katra, Jammu and Kashmir before Sheetal shifted her base to Haryana's Sonepat.