Manish Narwal shoots second gold in Para Shooting World Cup with new world record

Promising Manish Narwal shattered the world record en route clinching the gold in the P4 mixed 50m pistol SH1 event on the penultimate day of the 2021 Para Shooting World Cup on Tuesday. This was India's second gold medal in the event after Singhraj claimed the yellow metal in P1 men's 10m air pistol SH1 event.

Narwal, the 2019 World Championship bronze medallist, overcame a strong field that had Paralympic and world champions, including Iranian Sareh Javanmardi and Ukraine's Oleksii Denusiuk, to finish with 229.1 points, enough to break the previous world record of Serbia's Rastko Jokic (228.6).

The 19-year-old Narwal shot 5.7 points better than Javanmardi who ended on 223.4 points. The other Indian in the fray, Singhraj, also a Worlds medallist, claimed the bronze with 201.7 points.In SH1 events, athletes are able to support their firearm without assistance.

"The way Manish performed today was expected from him. I was in fact expecting a better score from him. Today's result will surely boost the entire team's confidence and preparation for the Tokyo Paralympic Games," national chief coach J P Nautiyal said.

After six days of competition, Ukraine continued to lead the medals tally with four gold, four silver and one bronze, followed by the hosts United Arab Emirates with three gold and a silver and India with two gold, one silver and a bronze medal. A total of 120 athletes from 24 nations are competing in the event.