Avani Lekhara has won India’s first medal at the Paris Paralympics. On Friday, India secured four medals in the Paralympics. In women’s shooting, Avani Lekhara won gold and Mona Agarwal took bronze. In men’s 10-meter air pistol shooting, Manish Narwal won silver. In the women’s 100 meters T-35 category race, Preeti Pal won a bronze medal.
Manish Narwal Wins Silver Medal
The fourth medal for India came in men’s shooting, where Manish Narwal secured silver in the men’s 10-meter air pistol SH1 category. He finished with a final score of 234.9. Korea’s Jeong-Doo Jo won the gold medal with 237.4 points. China’s Chao Yang, the world and Paralympic record holder, placed third with 214.3 points. He had previously won gold at Tokyo with a score of 237.9 and holds a world record of 241.8 points. Manish Narwal defeated Chao Yang, who won gold in Tokyo, to win the silver medal.
Avani Wins India’s First Medal
Avani Lekhara secured the first medal for India at the Paralympic Games. She won the gold medal in women’s 10-meter air rifle shooting SH1 category with a Paralympic record score of 249.7. Korea’s Yoon-Ri Lee won silver with a score of 246.8, while India’s Mona Agarwal took bronze with a score of 228.7. Avani Lekhara has won gold in consecutive Paralympics.
Mona Agarwal’s Close Performance
Avani won gold in the SH1 category, which includes shooters with hand, lower body, or leg impairments, or those with missing limbs. In the qualification round, Avani was second and Mona was fifth. In the final, with two rounds left, Mona was at the top with a score of 208.1. Avani was second, and the Korean shooter was third. In the second-last round, the Korean shooter moved to first place, and Avani moved to second, with Mona out of the gold race in third place. In the final round, Avani set a Paralympic record with a score of 249.7, surpassing her previous record of 249.6 set at Tokyo. The Korean shooter finished second with 246.8 points.
Preeti’s Medal Adds to the Count
In the women’s 100 meters T-35 category race, India won a bronze medal. Preeti Pal finished third with a career-best time of 14.21 seconds. Gold and silver medals went to China’s Jia Zhou (13.58 seconds) and Kian Guo (13.74 seconds), respectively. The T-35 category includes athletes with conditions such as hypertonia, ataxia, or athetosis.
Sakshi Misses Medal in Discus Throw
In the women’s discus throw F55 category final, both Indian athletes missed out on medals. Sakshi Kasana finished sixth with a best score of 21.49, and Jyoti Karam was seventh with a score of 20.22. China’s Fexia Dong won gold with a best score of 26.39. Mexico’s Maria Rosa took silver, and Latvia’s Diana Krumina won bronze.
Mansi Joshi Loses in Badminton Match
In para-badminton women’s singles, India’s Mansi Joshi lost her second group stage match to Ukraine’s Oksana Kozina with a score of 10-21, 21-15, 23-21. She had previously lost to Indonesia’s top-seed Konita Sayakurah in the first match.
Upcoming Events
Today’s events include Arshad Sheikh competing in the men’s C-2 3000 meters individual pursuit qualifying event, and Manu participating in the men’s shot put F-37 final. Para archer Sheetal Devi has qualified for the pre-quarterfinals in the women’s compound individual event, finishing second in the ranking round with a score of 703 out of 720, just one point shy of the world record. Sheetal will face the winner of the match between Chile’s Mariana Juniga and Korea’s Choi Na Mi.
Highlights of the First Day
India’s men’s para-badminton stars Sukant Kadam and Suhas Yatiraj registered impressive wins in their men’s singles SL-3 matches. The Paralympics began with an India vs. India match in para-badminton, where Nitesh Kumar and Thulasimathi Murugesan’s mixed doubles pair defeated compatriots Suhas Yatiraj and Palak Kohli. Later, the pair of Shivrajan Solaimlai and Nithya Sri Sivan faced defeat.
In para-track cycling, Jyoti Gaderia missed qualifying for the medal round, while Tarun secured an easy win in Group D of para-badminton. Aruna Tanwar faced a loss in para-taekwondo.