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Indian Cricket Fraternity Congratulates Avani Lekhara For Bagging Gold Medal In Shooting At Tokyo Paralympics

Jatin Khandelwal
·4-min read
Avani Lekhara
Avani Lekhara

India‘s success at the Tokyo Paralympics continues as shooter Avani Lekhara bagged the gold medal in the women’s 10m air rifle standing SH1 event on Monday. She becomes the first Indian woman to win gold at the Paralympics.

This is India’s first gold and fourth medal overall at this year’s Paralympics Games. Earlier, Bhavinaben Patel (table tennis) and Nishad Kumar (high jump) had won a silver each on Sunday, and Vinod Kumar had won bronze in the men’s discus throw.

Avani Lekhara
Avani Lekhara. Image-Twitter

Avani Lekhara, 19, who is making her maiden Paralympics appearance in Tokyo, is only the fourth Indian to win gold at the Paralympics; she is the first Indian to win a medal in shooting, only the third Indian woman to medal at the Paralympics.

In the final, she equalled the world record and set a new Paralympic record. She had earlier finished seventh in the qualification round. China’s Zhang Cuiping, the defending champion, won silver, while Ukraine’s Iryna Shchetnik, the world no. 1, won bronze.

“I can’t describe this feeling, I’m feeling like I’m on top of the world. It’s unexplainable,” she said after the final.

Avani Lekhara
Avani Lekhara. Image-Twitter

Hailing from Jaipur, Rajasthan, Avani Lekhara met an unfortunate car accident in 2012 and injured her spinal cord, forcing her into a wheelchair. She picked up shooting on her father’s encouragement and gained confidence after reading Olympic gold medalist Abhinav Bindra’s autobiography.

She’ll also be participating in three more events – women’s 50m rifle 3 positions SH1, mixed 10m air rifle SH1 and mixed 10m rifle prone SH1.

Indian cricketers and the cricket fraternity celebrated this win of Avani Lekhara. Master blaster Sachin Tendulkar bowed to her and termed her as an inspiration for all.

Indian Cricket Fraternity Congratulates Avani Lekhara For Bagging Gold Medal In Shooting At Tokyo Paralympics:

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