Avani Lekhara, Mona Agarwal, Manish Narwal and Preethi Pal took India’s medal tally to four on Saturday at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Paris Paralympics 2024: Day 2 – HIGHLIGHTS
Avani Lekhara became the first Indian to win two successive Paralympic gold medals with a record-breaking performance as the 22-year-old Avani, who was paralysed waist-down owing to a car accident as an 11-year-old, claimed the landmark gold in the women’s 10m air rifle (SH1) shooting competition in Chateauroux.
India also won a silver medal through Manish Narwal in the men’s 10m air pistol (SH1) final, and two bronze medals. The first of these came from 37-year-old Mona Agarwal, also a wheelchair-bound athlete, in the same event in which Avani clinched gold as the second was won by Preethi in the women’s 100m (T35) meet in Paris with a personal best performance.
Avani Strikes Gold, Mona Bags Bronze
Avani shot 249.7 to erase her own Paralympic record of 249.6 set in Tokyo to take the gold medal ahead of South Korea’s Lee Yunri, who shot 246.8 to win silver and compatriot Mona, who claimed bronze with a final score of 228.7.
ALSO READ | Avani Lekhara Wins Gold With Paralympic Record in Women’s 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1 Event in Paris
It was the first time India had a double podium finish in the same event at the Paralympic Games.
Avani also became the second Indian after javelin thrower Devendra Jhajharia to win two gold medals at the Games.
However, unlike Jhajharia, who is now heading the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI), Avani has achieved the feat in back-to-back Games.
In a nerve-wracking final, Avani was trailing her rival Lee Yunri by a few decimal points but the South Korean wilted under pressure and had an awful last shot of 6.8, while the Indian kept her cool to shoot a superb 10.5 to clinch the gold.
Avani’s companion in the final, Mona, who competes in the SH1 category owing to her lower leg impairment caused by an onset of polio in her childhood, notched up 228.7 to finish third on the podium.
Manish Gets Silver
Tokyo Games gold-medallist shooter Manish displayed pluck and courage in ample measure before ending with silver after shooting 234.9. The 22-year-old, winner of the 50m pistol gold in Tokyo three years ago, looked determined to do an encore in Paris, leapfrogging from No.5 to the top of the heap.
ALSO READ | Paris 2024 Paralympics: Manish Narwal Clinches Silver Medal in Men’s 10m Air Pistol SH1
But just when the gold looked well within his grasp, he came up with a series of poor shots in the ‘9s’, which saw him drop to second place.
Preethi Wins Bronze for 1st Medal in Track
Preethi won India’s first athletics medal in a Paralympics track event as she clinched a bronze in the women’s T35 100m competition with a personal best time of 14.21 seconds.
ALSO READ | Paris 2024 Paralympics: Preethi Pal Claims Bronze Medal in Women’s 100m T35
All the athletics medals India had won since the 1984 edition of the Paralympics have come from field events.
T35 classification is meant for athletes who have coordination impairments such as hypertonia, ataxia and athetosis.
Shuttlers and Archers Have Mixed Day
Suhas Yathiraj and Nitesh Kumar continued their impressive run to secure spots in the men’s singles SL4 and SL3 semifinals. Suhas, a 2007 batch IAS officer, defeated Korea’s Shin Kyung Hwan 26-24, 21-14 in his second match, topping the three-man Group A in the SL4 category. Meanwhile, Nitesh, a 29-year-old IIT Mandi graduate, dominated China’s Yang Jianyuan with a convincing 21-5, 21-11 victory, ensuring a top-two finish in the four-man Group A of the SL3 category.
Murugesan Thulasimathi also made it to the women’s singles SU5 semifinals after topping Group A. She beat Beatriz Monteiro of Portugal 21-12 21-8 for her second win in the group.
Sivarajan Solaimalai and Nithya Sre Sumathy Sivan defeated Thailand’s Natthapong Meechai and Chai Saeyang 21-7, 21-17 in a group stage match to book their place in the Mixed Doubles SH6 semi-finals.
However, it was a disappointing day for Manasi Joshi and Manoj Sarkar, as they both suffered their second consecutive defeats, ending their chances of reaching the semifinals in their respective groups.
Manasi, the 2019 World Champion, narrowly lost to Ukraine’s Oksana Kozyna 21-10, 15-21, 21-23 in her second women’s singles SL3 Group A match. Tokyo bronze medallist Manoj also faced another setback, losing 19-21, 8-21 to Bunsun in his second Group A match.
Sivarajan Solaimalai fought valiantly but lost to Hong Kong’s Man Kai Chu 13-21, 21-18, 15-21 in their Men’s Singles SH6 Group Play Stage match.
Nitesh and Thulasimathi Murugesan were defeated by the Indonesian pair of Ramdani Hikmat and Oktila Leani Ratri 15-21, 8-21 in their second mixed doubles SL3-SU5 group stage match.
Krishna Nagar lost to USA’s Miles Krajewski 16-21, 18-21 in a Men’s Singles SH6 Group Play Stage clash.
Suhas Yathiraj and Palak Kohli also suffered a 15-21, 9-21 loss to France’s Lucas Mazur and Faustine Noel in their second Group A mixed doubles match. The pair also lost to Indonesia’s Hikmat Ramdani and Leani Ratri Oktila 11-21, 17-21 in their third game of the group and hence crashed out.
The pair of Nitesh Kumar and Thulasimathi Murugesan lost to France’s Lucas Mazur and Faustine Noel 20-22, 19-21 in their Mixed Doubles SL3-SU5 Group Play Stage clash.
Seasoned archer Rakesh Kumar began his campaign with an easy 136-131 win over Senegal’s Aliou Drame to enter the pre-quarterfinals of the compound men’s open category. Shyam Sunder Swami, who got the 15th seed in the qualification round, crashed out after losing to Comsan Singpirom of Thailand in a thrilling shoot-off finish.
Manu finished sixth with a best effort of 13.86 in the Men’s Shot Put – F37 final.
(With inputs from Agencies)