Paris Paralympics: Avani, Mona qualify for women’s 10m air rifle standing SH1 final

Chateauroux, Aug 30 – Tokyo Paralympics gold medallist Avani Lekhara and Mona Agarwal have qualified in the women’s 10m air rifle standing SH1 final at the Paris Paralympics, here on Friday.

Avani finished second with 625.8 points while Mona was placed fifth after scoring 623.1 points in the 17-woman qualification round.

Ukraine’s Iryna Shchetnik, meanwhile, topped the qualifications with a Paralympic qualification record of 627.5. The previous record was held by Chinese shooter Zhang Cuiping, which she set in the Tokyo Games.

SH1 category is for shooters with lower limb impairments like amputations or paraplegia with the ability to hold their gun without difficulty and shoot from a standing or sitting position.

Avani scripted history at Tokyo 2020 when she became the first Indian woman to clinch a pair of medals at a single edition of the Paralympics. She won the 10m air rifle gold and the 50m rifle three-position bronze in the SH1 category on her Summer Games debut.

The Indian shooting contingent comprised 10 athletes – Avani, Manish Narwal, Amir Ahmad Bhat, Rudransh Khandelwal, Mona Agarwal, Rubina Francis, Swaroop Mahavir Unhalkar, Sidhartha Babu, Shriharsha Devaraddi and Nihal Singh.