Finance
On Saturday, Avani Lekhara, a young Paralympic champion, won her second gold medal at the ongoing Chateauroux 2022 World Shooting Para Sport World Cup.
Lekhara shot 458.3 in the finals of the R8 – Women’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions SH1 to win gold ahead of experienced Paralympic stars Veronica Vadovicova (456.6) of Slovakia and Anna Normann of Sweden (441.9). Silver and bronze went to Vadovicova and Normann, respectively.
The promising shooter from Rajasthan had a slow start to the finals, but quickly recovered to produce consistent shots, including over ten scores in the final three rounds, to win.
The 20-year-old Lekhara has already won gold in the R2 – Women’s 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1 event with a world record effort on Day 1, ensuring India a quota for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.
“Very emotional as I brought home the 2nd Gold Medal of this #WorldCup in the 50M 3P event with a score of 458.3. Couldn’t be happier!” tweeted Lekhara who claimed the bronze medal at the Paralympics in the same event. She also clinched the Paralympic gold in R2- Women’s 10m Air Rifle SH1 event, at Tokyo 2020.
Francis claims bronze
Rubina Francis, who won her second individual medal in a row, was another young star on the day. Francis took bronze in the P2 – Women’s 10m Air Pistol SH1 finals, shooting 213.1, while Turkey’s Aysel Ozgan won gold with a world record effort of 240.0.
Aysegul Pehlivanlar (236.7), Ozgan’s Turkish teammate, won the silver medal.
Francis, Sumedha Pathak, and Nisha Kanwar went on to win silver in the P2 – Women’s 10m Air Pistol SH1 Team event, finishing 1648-29x behind China (1659-30x). Thailand (1589-15x) won the bronze medal.
Manish Narwal, Singhraj, and Nihal Singh won silver in the P1 – Men’s 10m Air Pistol SH1 team event, accumulating a score of 1692-52x.
China (1702-45x) received the gold, while Turkey (1687-43x) received the bronze.
However, Narwal and Singhraj finished fourth and fifth in the individual finals, missing out on medals. Yang Chao (239.6) of China, a multiple-time Paralympic champion, won the final.
Source:IANS
