India at Tokyo Paralympics: Shooter Avani Lekhara wins GOLD- Avani Lekhara has won in Women’s 10m AR Standing SH1 Final at Tokyo Paralympics games. She shot 249.6 – a new Paralympic record. China’s Culping Zhang and Iryna Schetnik of Ukraine finished second and third respectively. Lekhara managed to get the better of her Chinese competitor by a fine margin to ensure maiden GOLD for India at Tokyo Games.
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First EVER #Gold for #IND in #ShootingParaSport!! Avani Lekhara wins in Women’s 10m AR Standing SH1 Final – she has shot 249.6 – a Paralympic record #Paralympics pic.twitter.com/ZcEUOw3nyq
— Doordarshan Sports (@ddsportschannel) August 30, 2021
PM Modi congratulated Avani Lekhara on winning maiden GOLD for India at Tokyo Paralympics.
Phenomenal performance @AvaniLekhara! Congratulations on winning a hard-earned and well-deserved Gold, made possible due to your industrious nature and passion towards shooting. This is truly a special moment for Indian sports. Best wishes for your future endeavours.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 30, 2021
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. China’s Cuiping Zhang grabbed silver by scoring 248.9 points while Ukraine’s Iryna Shchetnik won bronze.
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.
Earlier in the qualification round, the ace shooter finished seventh with a total score of 621.7. Avani staged a good recovery after a slow start to advance to the finals of the showpiece event.