Tokyo Paralympics gold medalist and champion Avani Lekhara added another gold medal to her World Cup tally by winning gold at the R8- Women’s 50m 3P SH1 event during the ongoing Chateauroux Para Shooting World Cup 2022 on June 11 in France, days after shattering the world record in the women’s 10m air rifle standing SH1 event. India ended this World Cup with 12 medals in different shooting events, with 6 golds, 5 silvers and 1 bronze. Each member of the 11 team contingent had won at least 1 medal.
The 20-year-old para shooter Avani, had won the gold medal in Paralympics Games in Tokyo last year and has continued her fine form at the World Cup in Chateauroux.
In R8-Women’s 50m 3 Positions SH1 event, Avani Lekhara shot 458.3 points to clinch the gold medal from the experienced shooter Veronika Vadovicova of Slovakia who managed to shoot 456.6 points and had to settle for a silver. Sweden’s Anna Normann took home the bronze medal with 441.9 points.Avani broke her own world record of 249.6 to secure a 2024 Paris Paralympics berth.
Rahul Jakhar and Rubina Francis won gold and silver medals respectively at the P5 Mixed 10m Air Pistol Standard SH1 event in the ongoing Para Shooting World Cup 2022 earlier on Friday.
Even the Men’s trio of Rahul Jakhar, Deepender and Akash clinched gold in the P5 Mixed Team 10m Air Pistol Standard SH1 event.
The duo of Manish Narwal and Rubina Francis clinched gold medal in P6 – 10m Air Pistol Mixed event at the para – shooting World Cup earlier on Wednesday. They outscored China’s Yang Chao and Min Li to secure this medal. This Indian duo created a world record with a score of 565 in qualification stage.
Avani won her 1st gold of the World Cup earlier on Tuesday. Apart from her, Srihari Devaraddi, para rifle shooter also clinched a gold medal in Mixed 10m Air Rifle SH2 in final defeating Slovenia’s Tirsek F by just 0.5 points and secured a berth in 2024 Paris Paralympics.
Avani suffered a major accident in 2012 when she was just 11 years old. She suffered a spinal cord injury and her life was restricted to a wheelchair. But she turned to para-sports with the help of her parents and tried her hands in the games of shooting and archery. She took up shooting and practiced it under the guidance of former India shooter Suma Shirur. She has been awarded many awards amongst which are the Padma Shri Award and the Khel Ratna Award, the highest sporting honour of the country. The 20 year old Avani exclaims with joy after clinching second gold, “I am very excited to represent India in the Paris Paralympics. It feels like we have been working on some things since the Paralympics. Winning the quota is just one step to my Paris 2024 performance.”
