Against the odds: Payal Nag’s rise on the para archery shooting line

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Payal Nag’s rise has been swift – and unmistakable.

The 18-year-old first made her mark at the Indian Para Archery Championships in 2025, winning medals and signalling her arrival at the national level. She confirmed that promise again at the 2026 edition of the event, finishing on the podium once more.

Those domestic breakthroughs paved the way for a landmark international debut.

In December 2025, Nag stepped onto the shooting line at the Dubai 2025 Asian Youth Para Games to shoot her first arrows at an international competition. As she prepared to begin, a quiet realisation struck her – how far she had come, and how far she still had to go.

She paused, took a deep breath, looked back at the journey behind her and smiled – a smile shaped by resilience and courage.

In Dubai, Nag made history as India’s – and the world’s – first quadruple amputee archer to compete internationally. At just 18, she turned a deeply personal milestone into a powerful moment for Para sport.

She didn’t win a medal, but she returned home with something equally valuable: experience and belief.

“It was my first international event, so I was nervous; but then the feeling sank in,” she says. “Every tournament I play, I learn lessons. Dubai will always be special – playing against international stars was like a dream. I need to train more, stay patient and focused to do better.”

Nag’s journey began long before the applause.

At just seven years old, she lost all four of her limbs after coming into contact with a live wire at a brick kiln in 2015. The daughter of migrant labourers from Balangir district in India’s eastern state of Odisha, she grew up facing doubts and ridicule about how she would live her life.

The prejudice was so deep that even her existence was questioned.

“There were some people in my family who even told my parents to kill me,” she says quietly, recalling words that left her family devastated, but determined to protect her future. “They doubted my existence and questioned how I would live and what I would do.”

“But my parents thought differently.”

After the COVID-19 pandemic, her family moved to Chhattisgarh, a state in central India. With sustained support from the state administration, Nag was sent to Parbhatigiri Balniketan, a government childcare institute where her needs could be properly met.

There, she found stability – and a new family.

She began to understand the meaning of life and developed a strong desire to achieve something significant despite her challenges. Gradually, she discovered a passion for sketching portraits using her feet, going on to win several district-level art competitions.

“I was good at making sketches, and I enjoyed it,” she says with a grin. “I made many drawings of people, and my peers and seniors often praised my work.”

At the time, her future seemed destined for pencils and paper – not bows and targets.

Then archery found her.

“One day someone posted my picture on Twitter, and that’s how my Guruji, Kuldeep Vedwan, found me,” she recalls. “He requested the orphanage management for my transfer.”

(Guruji is a Hindi term meaning a respected teacher.)

What followed was not just the discovery of archery at the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, but the discovery of self-belief, discipline and purpose.

Much like he later customised equipment for Sheetal Devi, coach Vedwan developed a special mechanism for Nag’s bow – fixing it to her prosthetic, securing it to her shoulder, allowing her to anchor using her mouth and release the arrow with a sharp movement of her shoulder.

Each arrow she has released since then carries more than precision; it carries a story of courage, transformation and possibility.

“Whatever I am today is because of my Guruji,” she says. “There were challenges and difficulties in the beginning, but he was always there to guide me.”

“Archery changed everything in my life. In the future, I don’t just want to – I know I will do better.”

That belief soon translated into results.

Earlier this year at the Indian Para Archery Championships, Nag finished second in qualification behind world champion and Paralympic medallist Sheetal Devi, before going on to claim bronze in the individual event.

Nag trained alongside Devi at the Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board Sports Complex in 2023 and 2024, before Devi later shifted her training base to Sonepat.

“We spent a lot of time together on the training ground in Jammu,” Nag says. “We used to talk a lot after training. She inspires all of us.”

In early 2025, Nag had already registered victories over some of the country’s top archers – including Devi – at her very first national tournament, the Indian Para Archery Championships in Jaipur.

It was a fairytale beginning.

She later competed at the Khelo India Para Games, meeting Devi again and finishing with a silver medal.

Devi was quick to praise her younger teammate.

“Payal is an exceptional archer with a strong foundation in technique,” she said. “Her game is characterised by precision and consistency. I’m impressed by her growth and development as an archer. God bless her with new heights in life.”

Nag admits that nerves played a role.

“I was nervous initially because she was already a Paralympic medallist,” she says. “Then I thought, it’s okay – she is just a Paralympic medallist. We are shooting the same numbers. I focused on the process, and it turned into a great match.”

The medals proved a major confidence boost.

Still, she had to wait until December 2025 for her international debut in Dubai.

With every shot at the Asian Youth Para Games, Nag was not just competing – she was announcing her arrival on the international stage.

Coming from a remote village and standing among the world’s best, her journey is a powerful example of resilience. Along the way, she says, she has learned her most important lesson:

“We should never give up in any situation. If I can do archery without my hands or feet, anyone can do it.”

Today, her dreams are bigger than ever.

“I want to win a Paralympic gold medal for my country; I want to qualify for the LA28 Games,” Nag says, her voice brimming with determination.

The same people who once ridiculed her now search her name on the internet.

“And I’m proud that I never gave up.”