Be it the Olympics or the Paralympics, shooting has seen encouraging results for the Indian contingent at the Paris Summer Games. Avani Lekhara, Mona Agarwal and Manish Narwal all made the podium on the first day of shooting on Friday.
Avani became the first Indian to claim successive Paralympic gold medals, defending her womenâs 10m air rifle (SH1) title. Mona won bronze in the same event, making it a historic double.
Avani, 22, shot a superb 249.7 to erase her own Paralympic record of 249.6 set in the Tokyo Games three years ago. In qualification, she shot a 625.8 to be placed second. Mona, the two-time World Cup gold medallist, shot a 623.1 to lie fifth.
The elimination rounds were a tense affair. By the fourth round, Avani (187.0) and Mona (186.8) were in the top two spots. The latter overtook the former in the fifth round as the pair confirmed two medals. In the end, however, Avaniâs experience came in handy with Koreaâs Lee Yunri taking the second spot.
In the shootout, Avani began with a 9.9 while Lee shot a 10.7. But the Koreanâs nerves took over as she managed only a 6.8 in the next while Avani shot a 10.5, sealing her second gold on the trot.
The Jaipur-born shooter had a challenging run-up to the Olympics, having gone under the knife for a long-standing gallbladder issue. That procedure forced her to take a break for a month and a half.
âIt mentally hampered me because I am not training months away from the Paralympics,â said Avani in a video call from Chateauroux. âEven though itâs a small surgery, a lot of core muscles werenât working the way they were before and so I had to work on that more. My team worked heavily to get me back on track.â
ALSO READ: Iâm more mature in my technique; Paralympics just another competition: Avani Lekhara
Avani Lekhara competes during the Womenâs 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1 at the Paris 2024 Summer Paralympic Games on August 30, 2024 in Chateauroux, France. | Photo Credit: Getty Images
Fitting riposte
Growing up, Mona faced a lot of discrimination due to her polio diagnosis. She found her calling in shooting after trying out shot put, discus, javelin and weightlifting.
âIn 2010, I left home to fulfil my dreams. At that time, my family objected and said it wouldnât accept me or let me into the house again. But now theyâre all celebrating with me,â said Mona.
The 37-year-old mother of two is excited to share the triumph with her children. âWhen I left for practice, I had to leave my kids behind. Everyday, they would video call me and tell me how much they missed having me over. They said, âGPS lagake ghar vaapas aajao.â I cried at least once everyday speaking to them,â she revealed.
Manish, who won gold in the Tokyo Games in the Menâs 10m Air Pistol SH1 event, missed out on the podium top step this time. After lying sixth at the end of the first series, he slowly moved up.
After taking the top spot at the end of the third elimination round with a score of 158, he slipped to second in the fourth as Koreaâs Jo Jeongdu overtook him. He maintained his second spot and earned the right to shoot for gold. However, his first effort in the final round was an agonising 8.9 to Joâs 10.8. Manish never recovered.
In Tokyo, Manish had his elder brother Manjeet Singh by his side to celebrate his triumph. However, Manjeet tragically passed away in a road accident in 2022.
âLast time when I won a medal in Tokyo, we danced and celebrated the entire night. Now, I am missing him a lot. Heâs gone but his memories are with me,â he said, struggling to hold back his tears. Manish had Paralympic Committee of India president Devendra Jhajharia by his side consoling him.
Earlier, Preethi Pal won Indiaâs first medal on the Paralympics track with a bronze in the womenâs T35 100m event, registering a personal best of 14.21s along the way. Chinaâs Zhou Xia (13.58) and Guo Qianqian (13.74) won the gold and silver.
Historic first
The 23-year-old Preethi, a farmerâs daughter from Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh, significant physical challenges when she was born as her lower body was plastered for six days after birth. Weak legs and an irregular leg posture made her prone to various diseases. She underwent various traditional treatments to strengthen her legs, including wearing calipers for eight years from the age of five.
At 17, Preethiâs perspective began to change when she watched the Paralympic Games on social media. But her life-changing moment came when she met Paralympic athlete Fatima Khatoon, who introduced her to para-athletics.
She qualified for the Asian Para Games last year in China, where she finished fourth in both the 100m and 200m sprints. She moved to Delhi to train under coach Gajender Singh and fine tuned her running techniques, leading to her winning a bronze medal each in 100m and 200m in World Para Athletics Championships.
Published – August 30, 2024 04:08 pm IST
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