Payal Nag of Bolangir in Odisha has excelled in the 6th Para Archery National Championship by clinching two gold medals in Women’s Compound events at Jaipur’s Poornima University.The 17-year-old girl’s achievement even more special was that she defeated Sheetal Devi, a Paris Paralympic medallist in 2024.Bolangir girl Payal, who has shrugged off the loss of an arm to pursue archery, shot 684 – 335 in 50m (I) and 349 in 50m (II) leave Sheetal (674) far behind.In the knockouts, Payal beat Jammu & Kashmir’s Sheetal 143-138 in the final.Payal, who took up archery after watching videos of Sheetal, suffered a tragic accident which resulted in damage to both her legs and loss of one hand, leaving her completely disabled at the age of 8.Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Majhi took to X to applaud Payal’s exceptional success.“Heartiest congratulations to Odisha’s proud para-athlete Payal Nag, who won the gold medal in the 6th National Archery Championship through her hard work. Despite her physical disability, her determination, focus and efforts to achieve her goals have brought her success today. I pray to the Almighty for her bright future,” the chief minister wrote.
