Payal Nag is making a name for herself in Sheetal Devi’s category at the Khelo India Para Games 2025.
Nag clinched silver while Devi took home a gold in the compound archery event.
Hailing from a modest family in Odisha’s Balangir district, Nag lost her arms after coming in contact with an 11,000-volt power line in 2015. She was put under the care of Parvatigiri Balniketan, an orphanage in Balangir with the help of the District Collector, according to news agency ANI.
Soon everyone around her realised that her spirit wasn’t deterred due to the tragedy. She started exhibiting her artistic skills by drawing with mouth. That caught the attention of Kuldeep Vedwan, who runs the Shri Mata Vaishnodevi Shrine Board Archery Academy in Katra, Jammu and Kashmir and also happens to be Sheetal’s coach.
“I used to draw with my mouth before. I could draw anyone’s face by looking at them. One of my pictures went viral on social media. My guru (coach Kuldeep) also saw this, and then came to me at my orphanage and brought me to Jammu,” Payal told SAI Media during the Khelo India Para Games in New Delhi.
She began para-archery with a special prosthetic device. Three years from there on, Payal finds herself competing with ‘didi’ and a household name in para-archery, Sheetal.
After the silver in Khelo India Para Games, she has set her sights on Asian and global events.
“My dream is to win a gold medal for the country. If I can come from an orphanage in Balangir, Odisha and defeat Sheetal didi, then my goal can be nothing less than winning gold for the country,” she said.