Shooter Avani Lekhara becomes first Indian woman to win gold at Paralympics
Tokyo(PTI): Shooter Avani Lekhara scripted history on Monday as she became the first Indian woman to win a gold medal at the Paralympics, firing her way to the top of the podium in the R-2 women's 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1 event here.
The 19-year-old from Jaipur, who sustained spinal cord injuries in a car accident in 2012, finished with a world record equalling total of 249.6, which is also a new Paralympic record.
She is only the fourth Indian athlete to win a Paralympics gold after swimmer Murlikant Petkar (1972), javelin thrower Devendra Jhajharia (2004 and 2016) and high jumper Mariyappan Thangavelu (2016).
"I can't describe this feeling, I'm feeling like I'm on top of the world. It's unexplainable," an elated Lekhara said.
Hers is also the first shooting medal that India has logged in the showpiece.
"I'm so happy I could be the one to contribute it. Hopefully there's a lot of medals more to come," Lekhara said.
In the R-1 men's 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1 event, Mahavir Swaroop Unhalkar missed out on a podium, finishing fourth with a total of 203.9, while his compatriot Deepak was ousted in the qualification round after firing 592.6.
Lekhara edged out 2016 Rio Games gold-medallist Cuiping Zhang of China who clinched the silver medal with a total of 248.9 at the Asaka Shooting Range.
World number one and reigning world campion Iryna Shchetnik of Ukraine took home the bronze with an effort of 227.5.
"I was just saying one thing, that I have to take one shot at a time. There's nothing else matters now, just take one shot at a time and just finish it.
"I just think that I have to follow the process. Beyond that, I try not to think about the score or the medal tally," Lekhara said reflecting on her final.
Lekhara had finished fourth in the last world championship in 2019 but won a silver in the para-shooting World Cup in Al Ain in March.
Appearing in her maiden Paralympics, Lekhara, ranked fifth in the world, consistently shot 10s in both the competition stages. She was set to obliterate the world record but two 9.9s towards the end cost her the mark.
In the qualification round, Lekhara had finished seventh with a total 621.7.
Encouraged by her father to get involved in a sport, Lekhara initially tried both shooting and archery.
She found that she enjoyed shooting more, and was also inspired by 2008 Beijing Olympics gold-medallist Abhinav Bindra after reading his book.
She began shooting in 2015 at Jagatpura Sports Complex in Jaipur.
An Assistant Conservator of Forests in Rajasthan, Lekhara made her debut for India in 2017 World Cup in Al Ain, UAE.
Since 2017, the Indian government has supported Lekhara by including her in the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) besides funding her training through the Annual Calendar for Training and Competition (ACTC).
With the help of this support, she has competed in 12 international competitions, attended national coaching camps with sports science support along with sports kit.
She also received financial assistance to install a computerised digital target at home, air rifle, ammunition and accessories.
The teenager's performance was lauded by Prime Minister Narendra Modi
"Phenomenal performance @AvaniLekhara! Congratulations on winning a hard-earned and well-deserved Gold, made possible due to your industrious nature and passion towards shooting. This is truly a special moment for Indian sports. Best wishes for your future endeavours," Modi tweeted.
The PM also spoke to her over phone to personally congratulate her.
She will also be competing in the mixed 10m Air Rifle Prone SH1, the women's 50m Rifle 3 Positions SH1 and the mixed 50m Rifle Prone event.
In the SH1 Rifle category, shooters are able to hold a gun with arms.
The athletes have an impairment in their legs, for example amputations or paraplegia.
Some athletes will compete in a seated position, while others will compete in a standing position.
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Messi Magic: Hyderabad stadium decked up to witness legend's 'Penalty Shootout' on Dec 13
Hyderabad (PTI): The RGI Cricket Stadium here is decked up to witness football legend Lionel Messi's spectacular "Penalty Shootout," when his team will take on Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy-led squad in a friendly tie to be held on Saturday evening.
According to Parvathi Reddy, advisor to the GOAT Tour Hyderabad, there will be a friendly match between the two teams-Singareni RR9 and Aparna-Messi All Stars. These two teams will be playing a 15-20 minute friendly match and five minutes before the match, Revanth Reddy, a football enthusiast and Messi will join and dribble the ball together.
“There will be penalty shoots to decide who is the winning team. Each team gets a 3-3 penalty shootout so that they will decide who is the winning team. Messi will be doing it separately on his own. His magic kick will be done to showcase it to everybody,” Reddy told PTI.
She further said about 60 people paid Rs 10 lakh to get a picture with Messi and the amount thus collected will go to the Football Clinic aiming to provide opportunity to some young players to learn from big names in Football.
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A source closely associated with the event said about 27,000 tickets have been sold so far and the organiser expects full capacity- 39,000 by Saturday evening.
After the match there is a football clinic for about 25-30 minutes in which 20 children will be coached by Messi, Rodrigo (De Paul) and Luis Suarez, she said.
Messi will be landing in the city at 4 PM on Saturday and will leave from Mumbai on Sunday morning.
Meanwhile elaborate security arrangements are being made for the event at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium.
Rachakonda Police Commissioner Sudheer Babu said a 3,000 personnel security detail would be provided.
He said only valid ticket holders should reach the stadium, urging the spectators to use public transport or pool cars to avoid congestion at the venue.
Tickets will not be sold at the stadium as they were already sold online.
Messi would have 'Z' category security during his visit and an exclusive entry into the stadium.
Spectators would be allowed three hours before the play starts at 7 PM, the police official said.
Meanwhile, BJP workers, led by MLA A Maheshwar Reddy, held a protest outside the office of state-run mining company Singareni Collieries here alleging that Chief Minister Revanth Reddy is misusing public money in the name of playing a football match with Messi.
The CM is wasting public money to the tune of Rs 100 crore out of his "madness for international publicity", he alleged.
The government should state how much money, and for what purpose it was being spent, he said.
He charged that funds of Singareni Collieries are being used to sponsor Revanth Reddy's team in the match with Messi.
