Mumbai: Shooter Avani Lekhara has become the first-ever Indian woman to win a gold medal in the history of the Paralympics.
The 19-year-old equaled the world record by shooting a score of 249.6 in the R2 – Women’s 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1 event to clinch the gold.
China’s Cuiping Zhang won the silver medal with a score of 248.9, while Ukraine’s Irina Shchetnik won the bronze.
Avani Lekhara started the final at a very good pace as she scored above 10 points in a row. In the first leg of the competition, his only two shots were reduced to 10 which took him to second place.
Moving into the elimination stage, Avni finished first and maintained a very healthy lead against her opponents. The Indian continued her stellar run and ended up with 249.6 points in the end.
Earlier in the qualification round, the shooter had finished seventh with an overall score of 621.7. Avani made a good recovery after a slow start to reach the finals of the showpiece event.
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