Sheetal Devi, with four fellow archers – Ojas Deotale, Jyothi Vennam, Aditi Swami And Rakesh Kumar – were honored to Times of India sports awards for 2023 in a glittering ceremony in Lucknow on February 23.

The sixth edition of the awards, more commonly known as TOISA, was presented to outstanding athletes across various sporting disciplines across 20 categories, celebrating the remarkable achievements and unwavering commitment of India's elite athletes.

Devi was awarded the title of sportsman of the year jointly with javelin thrower Sumit Antil, as well as female para-archer of the year.

“Thank you for recognizing my efforts,” the 17-year-old said. “This is an important year for us all and recognition like this is a big boost in our preparation for the Paralympics.”

“My journey has only just begun and there is a long way to go for me to aspire to bring more laurels to my country,” she added, as she prepares for the last global qualifying tournament for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games from March 2 to 7 in Dubai.

Rakesh Kumar became India's first-ever gold medalist at the World Paralympic Archery Championships when he won the world title in the mixed team event alongside Sarita last summer. The 39 year old man had been named male archer of the year.

Ojas Deotale and Jyothi Vennam received the award archers of the year awards in both the male and female categories, while teenage sensation Aditi Swami was named the emerging sportsman of the yearwith shooter Esha Singh.

Classic Archer Atanu Das had already been named archer of the year in 2017.