Chateauroux [France], August 30
Reigning Paralympic champion, Avani Lekhara, and shooter Mona Agarwal have qualified for the final of the women’s 10m air rifle standing SH1 event in the ongoing Paralympics on Friday.
While Mona finished the qualification round with a score of 623.1 and took fifth spot, Avani took the second spot and finished with a score of 625.8.
Ukraine shooter Iryna Shchetnik, who holds the qualification world record, broke the Paralympic qualification record finishing with a score of 627.5. He bettered the previous mark of 626.0 set by China’s Zhang Cuiping in Tokyo.
Avani opened her account with a 10.6 shot while Mona Agarwal shot 10.3 to begin her campaign. The reigning Paralympic champion ended the first series in the 10th position after she missed the mark in one of her shots and registered 9.6.
Avani ended the first series with a score of 102.9 points in the 10th spot while Mona reaped rewards for her consistency and shot 103.9 points to settle for the fifth spot.
In the second series, Avani upped the ante and leapfrogged to to third spot by scoring 105.5 points to cap off a sensational performance in the second series. For Mona, a single shot below ten (9.9) ensured that she slipped to the sixth spot. She ended the second series with 103.4 points.
In the third series, Avani’s nerves dwindled as she shot 9.7 and 9.9 towards the end. She stayed in the third spot after accumulating 103.4 points in the third series. Mona found her groove yet again and secured 103.8 points in the third series to move to the fourth spot.
In the fourth series, Avani weaved her magic and took the top spot with a remarkable effort. On the back of her effortless display, she scored 105.3 points in the fourth series. While Mona missed the ten-point mark once with a 9.9 shot and slipped to the fifth position after the fourth series.
After the end of the fifth series, Avani maintained her position at the summit with another exceptional performance. With a score of 105.6, Avani dominated the fifth series to stay at the top.
Meanwhile, Mona once again missed the ten-point mark on two occasions. She shot a 9.7 and 9.9 towards the end of the series, finishing with 104.1 and slipping to sixth position.
In the sixth and final series, Avani slipped and misplaced a couple of her shots. She ended the final series with 103.1 points. While Mona shined under pressure and ended the sixth series with a score of 105.5.
