Tokyo Paralympics 2020: Avani Lekhara fails to qualify for final in 10m Air Rifle Prone SH1 event

Tokyo: Shooter Avani Lekhara, who became India’s first female gold medallist in Paralympic Games two days ago, failed to replicate her success as she crashed out in the qualification round of the mixed 10m Air Rifle Prone SH1 event here on Wednesday. The SH1 (Rifle) allows individuals with no impairment in the upper limbs but an impairment in either/both the lower limbs to compete. Lekhara was not at her usual best as she she finished a disappointing 27th with a score of 629.7, crashing out in the third round. Other Indian para shooters in the men’s event, Sidhartha Babu and Deepak Kumar witnessed a horrible outing, finishing 40th and 43rd respectively with scores of 625.5 and 624.9 at the Asaka Shooting Range. The gold in this event was won by Germany’s Natascha Hiltrop, while silver and bronze were bagged by South Korean Park Jinho and Ukraine’s Iryna Schetnik. The 19-year-old Lekhara created history in her debut Games, winning India’s first Paralympic medal in shooting with a gold in R2 women’s 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1. Lekhara, who sustained spinal cord injuries in a car accident in 2012, had finished with a world record equalling total of 249.6, which is also a new Paralympic record.