Avani Lekhara, the ace Indian shooter at the Paralympics has won a gold medal in the 10m Air Rifle (Women) SH1. This is India’s first Gold Medal at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. With this victory, Avani has broken a series of records and has become the first Indian woman to win a Para Gold. Here is how Avani achieved this prestigious and novel landmark: –
Avani Lekhara Group Stage: –
In the first stage that is said to be the group stage, Avani finished at a cumulative 7th position. The ace shooter had taken a while to settle her nerves down. The group stage had a total of 21 athletes from different nations. Of the 21 athletes, 8 athletes qualified. The highest-ranked athlete in this group stage event was the Chinese Zhang. She was at the top of the leaderboard alongside Ukrainian Shchetnik. After 6 series of firing, the scoreboard of the leading athletes had a score of 626. Both the top two athletes had the same score. The Slovakian, Iranian, Korean, Swedish, and other Chinese athletes qualified along with Avani for the finals. The 6 series scores of Avani were as follows; 103, 102.8, 104.9, 104.8, 102.1, 104.1. Her total score in the qualifiers was 621.7. Seventh-ranked Avani, however, had just begun.
Avani Lekhara Finals: –
After qualifying in the finals of the 10m Air Rifle with a score of 621.7, Avani was enthralled as her best was yet to come. With the experience that she had gained in the qualifying stage, Avani was ready to strike the red hot iron. The finals had a different form of shooting. The shots were in the form of different sets. A total of 8 sets were going to take place. And were divided into two stages, each of 4 sets. Avani took advantage of this format. She started striking the bull’s eye with supreme ease. The bullets fired from her rifle were smooth as a whisker.
Avani began on a high note. Her first set ended with her gaining 52 points and being at the top of the leaderboard. From then on, Avani gained momentum and refused to let it go! Her next set saw her gain 51.3 points. In the first stage her scores were as follows; 52, 51.3, 21.6, 20.8. Then the second stage began. In this stage, Avani was chased down by her Chinese opposition Zhang. But Avani wasn’t bothered at all. She went on showing her class to the world. She finished with scores of 21.2, 20.9, 21.2, 20.1, 20.5. This was enough for Avani to secure a “Gold”. This is India’s first Gold at the Tokyo Paralympics.
Records broken by Avani Lekhara: –
New Paralympic Record with 249.6 points in 10m Air Rifle (Women) SH1.
Equalling the World Record.
First Indian Woman to win a Gold at the Paralympics.
First Indian to win a Gold at Tokyo 2020 Paralympics.