Paris 2024 Paralympics Para-Shooting: Avani Lekhara wins gold, Mona Agarwal secures bronze in the women’s 10m air rifle standing SH1 event
Indian para-shooting star Avani Lekhara won a gold medal in the women’s 10m air rifle standing SH1 event at the ongoing Paris 2024 Paralympics on Friday, August 30. She finished in the first position with a new Paralympic record score of 249.7.
This victory also made the 22-year-old para-shooter the most successful female Paralympian in the country. She is now the only female Indian para-athlete to win two gold medals in the Paralympic Games.
This is the second consecutive Paralympic gold medal for Avani Lekhara, who had won the gold in the same event at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, creating the erstwhile Paralympic record of 249.6. Lekhara had also won a bronze medal in the women’s 50m rifle 3 positions SH1 event in Tokyo 2020.
India had another para-athlete on the podium in the 10m air rifle standing SH1 event on Friday, with 36-year-old Mona Agarwal winning a bronze medal in her Paralympic debut with a score of 228.7.
Besides Avani Lekhara, which Indian para-shooters can win Paralympic gold today?
After India opened its gold medal tally in the ongoing Paris 2024 Paralympics courtesy of Avani Lekhara, more para-shooters stand a chance to win gold medals of their own on Friday.
Manish Narwal has qualified for the final of the P1 men’s 10m air pistol SH1 event. The 22-year-old finished the qualification round with a score of 565, comfortably securing his place in the final.
Rudarnsh Khandelwal also had a chance to qualify for the final in the same event but missed out after falling just one point behind the last qualifying athlete, Server Ibragimov of Uzbekistan.
Meanwhile, Sriharsha Devaraddi Ramakrishna, the oldest member of the Indian contingent at the Paris 2024 Paralympics, will start his Paralympic journey at the mixed 10m air rifle standing SH2 qualification round.
If the 44-year-old para-shooter manages to secure a berth in the final, he will have a chance to win a gold medal in his debut Paralympic appearance.