India at Tokyo Paralympics: Abhinav Bindra, Deepa Malik hail GOLD medallist Avani Lekhara- Deepa Malik, the President of the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) congratulated shooter Avani Lekhara for winning a “historic” gold in the ongoing Tokyo Paralympics on Monday.
Avani created history by winning the gold medal at Asaka Shooting Range in the women’s R2 — 10m Air Rifle standing SH1 event. The 19-year-old became the first woman from India to win a Paralympics gold medal. Avani finished with a Paralympic Record and in-process equalled the World Record with 249.6 points.
Tokyo Paralympics: Shooter Avani Lekhara wins first GOLD for India, sets new record
Tokyo Olympics gold medallist Neeraj Chopra also chipped in with plaudits for Avani Lekhara, who clinched the gold medal on Monday. Chopra tweeted, “Congratulations @AvaniLekhara on such an amazing performance at your first #Paralympics and for giving us the opportunity to listen to the national anthem again in Tokyo!”
Congratulations @AvaniLekhara on such an amazing performance at your first #Paralympics and for giving us the opportunity to listen to the national anthem again in Tokyo! 🇮🇳 https://t.co/RwGqs7fPNI
— Neeraj Chopra (@Neeraj_chopra1) August 30, 2021
“It’s history, you have taken everyone by storm Avani. I so wanted to be there but congratulations. Your medal will add to the celebrations of Janmashtami. You have given tremendous reasons not for the Paralympic fraternity but for every Indian to celebrate,” Deepa said in a video posted on her Twitter.
“You have done it. I thank you for bringing the beautiful medal which is going shine bright in the history of Paralympic sports of India,” she added.
It’s a Gold! Heartiest congratulations to @Avanilekhara for winning India’s first medal in #ParaShooting. The young shooter kept her calm & won the medal by equalling World record.@narendramodi @ianuragthakur@Media_SAI @Paralympics @ShootingPara #Praise4Para #Paralympics pic.twitter.com/h6JqIXehsv
— Deepa Malik (@DeepaAthlete) August 30, 2021
Abhinav Bindra, who won the gold in the men’s 10m Air Rifle event at the Beijing Olympics, hailed the brilliant display by Avani in the ongoing Paralympic Games.
“Gold it is! Brilliant display by @AvaniLekhara to win India its first Paralympic gold medal in shooting. Immensely proud! Many Congratulations on your shot at history !” Bindra tweeted.
Gold it is! Brilliant display by @AvaniLekhara to win India its first Paralympic gold medal in shooting. Immensely proud ! Many Congratulations on your shot at history ! #Praise4Para #Tokyo2020
— Abhinav A. Bindra OLY (@Abhinav_Bindra) August 30, 2021
A gold-en moment for India! Hats off @AvaniLekhara on becoming the first Indian woman to win gold at #TokyoParalympics2021#Paralympics #ShootingParaSport pic.twitter.com/Th5ijnwF78
— Abhishek Bachchan (@juniorbachchan) August 30, 2021
Congratulations to @AvaniLekhara for winning the gold medal 🥇 … #shooting #TokyoOlympics2020 #TokyoParalympics 👍🇮🇳… #JaiHind https://t.co/o71lLTPqmt
— Saina Nehwal (@NSaina) August 30, 2021
Avani Lekhara started the final at a very good pace as she scored consistently above 10 points. Just two-shot of her went below 10 in the 1st competition stage which landed her in the second position.
Going into the elimination stage Avani grabbed 1st spot and maintained a very healthy lead against her opponents. The Indian continued with her fine performance and ended with 249.6 points in the end.
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