India won its first medals at the Asian Para Games on Monday through a one-two finish in the women’s 10m air rifle standing SH1 event. The medals came in Aichi-Nagoya, where Mona Agarwal took gold and Avani Lekhara silver. =
Mona, the 2024 Paris Paralympics bronze medallist, climbed from sixth place in the final to score 250.0, a new Asian Para Games record. Avani, who finished second with 249.6, missed the gold by 0.4 points. Avani, 24, was the defending champion and a two-time Paralympic gold medallist. South Korea’s Yunri Lee took bronze with 227.9.
The contest between the two Rajasthan shooters went down to the last of the 24 shots. Mona stood at 239.2 and Avani at 239.1 before the final shot. Mona then fired a 10.8 to Avani’s 10.5, sealing the gold for the 38-year-old mother of two.
Mona had also led qualification with 629.1, a Games qualification record. That total beat the previous mark held by China’s Zhang Cuiping, and it fell just short of the world record of 629.4 shared by Avani and Slovakia’s Veronika Vadovicova. Avani qualified second with 626.4.
The final began differently. Avani, aiming to retain her Hangzhou title, opened with a 10.8 to Mona’s 10.1 and led 53.2 after five shots and 104.8 after ten, while Mona sat sixth on 102.9. The elimination stage turned it around. Avani slipped with a run of modest scores while Mona climbed steadily.
The result also gave India a second quota place for the 2028 Los Angeles Paralympics. Mona had already earned the first by winning silver at the World Shooting Para Sport Championships in Changwon, South Korea, in September. Reports credit the second quota to Avani’s silver. Avani has been wheelchair-bound since a car accident in childhood, and the silver adds to a long list of major medals.
with inputs from PTI