Tokyo 2020 Paralympics
Tokyo Paralympics: Avani Lekhara becomes the first Indian shooter to win Gold at Paralympics
India's first gold medal of the Tokyo Paralympics comes in style as Avani Lekahara wins it in the 10m Rifle SH1 event
Indian shooter Avani Lekhara scripted history by becoming India's first Paralympic medalist in shooting. It might or might not have been predicted but Avani performed brilliantly in the qualification and finals to claim gold here.
In the qualification round, Avani ended in 7th place with a total score of 621.7. All the other competitors were the top 5 ranked shooters in the women's SH1 category.
Heading into the final, it seemed as though the competition for the podium finish would be tough. However, Avani held her nerve throughout the competition and managed to sustain the lead she had early on.
In the elimination stage, Avani did not drop below 10 for the first 5 shots. This helped her immensely as she managed scores of 124.9, 145.7 and 166.9 consecutively.
Her shooting was impeccable with shots of 10.7 and 10.6 being frequent. It all boiled down to the final round where she and Cuiping Zhang were left. Her final score of 249.6 is what brought her to the Gold Medal. In doing so, she also made a new Paralympic Record and equalled the World Record for shooting in her category.
