India at Paris Paralympics, August 30: Avani Lekhara wins gold, medals for Mona and Manish

What a fruitful day India had at the Paris Paralympics! The Indian contingent did not disappoint the fans on the event’s second day. The shooting players showcased outstanding performances, securing three medals for India. Avani Lekhara, Mona Agarwal, and Manish Narwal bagged medals for the country. Additionally, athlete Preethi Pal clinched the coveted medal in athletics. Let’s start with the roundup in each sport.

Para-Shooting: Wins, medals and heartbreaks

Avani Lekhara dazzled with a world record score of 249.7 points, clinching gold in the Women’s 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1 event. Her compatriot, Mona Agarwal, secured a bronze with 228.7 points. In the Mixed 10m Air Rifle Standing SH2 qualification, Sriharsha narrowly missed the mark by just 0.1 points, finishing ninth with a score of 630.7.

Manish Narwal bagged the silver in Men’s 10m Air Pistol SH1 with a score of 234.9 points.

Para-Badminton ups and downs

Manasi Joshi, despite having three game points, fell to Ukraine’s Oksana Kozyna in a thrilling three-game match, losing 10-21, 21-15, 23-21. Manoj Kumar was defeated in straight games 19-21, 8-21 by Thailand’s Mongkhon Bunsun in the Men’s Singles SL3 Group A match.

Nitesh Kumar sailed through with a decisive 21-5, 21-11 win against China’s Jianyuan Yang in the Men’s Singles SL3 Group A match. Suhas Yathiraj triumphed over South Korea’s Hwan Shin Kyung with a 26-24, 21-14 scoreline in their Men’s Singles SL4 Group A match.

Palak Kohli, despite an early lead, succumbed to Indonesia’s Leani Ratri, losing 1-2 in the Women’s Singles SL4 Group C match. Sivarajan, after a brilliant second game comeback, fell short in the third game, losing 13-21, 21-18, 15-21.

Nithya Sre Sumathy Sivan won 2-0 in the Women’s Singles SH6 Group A, defeating Cai Yi-Lin of Chinese Taipei 21-12, 21-19. Thulasimathi Murugesan emerged victorious 2-0 against Portugal’s Beatriz Monteiro in Women’s Singles SU5 Group A, with scores of 21-12, 21-8.

Athletics highlights

In the Women’s Discus Throw F55 final, Karam Jyoti and Sakshi placed sixth and seventh. Sakshi’s best throw was 21.49m, while Karam Jyoti’s best was 20.22m.

Preethi Pal made history by securing a bronze in the women’s 100m T35 finals with a time of 14.21 seconds, marking India’s first Paralympic medal in a track event.

Table Tennis challenges

Bhavina Patel and Sonalben Patel’s campaign ended as they lost 5-11, 6-11, 11-9, 6-11 to Korea’s Young A Jung and Sunghye Moon in the Women’s Doubles WD10 quarterfinals.

Archery achievements

Sarita Advances: Sarita secured her place in the quarterfinals by defeating Malaysian Jannaton Abdul Jalil with a 138-124 score in the Women’s Individual Compound Open 1/8 elimination.

Rakesh outperformed Aliou Drame 136-131 in the Men’s Compound Open 1/16 elimination, advancing to the pre-quarters.

Rowing results

Mixed Doubles Performance: The duo of Anita and Narayana Konganapalle finished fifth in Heat 1 of the PR3 Mixed Doubles Sculls.

Para-Cycling

Arshad Shaikh is currently in fifth place with a time of 4:20:949 in the Men’s C2 3000 Individual Pursuit qualification.