Tokyo Paralympics: Shooter Swaroop Unhlakar misses medal by whisker, finishes 4th
TOKYO: Indian shooter Swaroop Mahavir Unhlakar finished on the fourth position in the men's R1 -- 10m Air Rifle standing SH1 final event at the Asaka Shooting Range on Monday.
Swaroop crashed out of the event after aiming 20 shots in the final, the Indian missed the podium finish by 0.4. He ended with a score of 203.9 in 5th elimination. China's Chao Dong bagged gold with a Paralympic Record of 246.4. Ukraine's Andrii Doroshenko captured silver while South Korea's Jinho Park won the bronze medal.
Swaroop started brilliantly in the first 10 shots in the final as he managed to get into the second position after the completion of 1st competition stage. He scored consistently above 10 points. Just two-shot of his went below 10 to 9.8 in the first stage.
Going into the elimination stage Swaroop quickly changed his gears as he grabbed 1st spot and maintained a slim lead against his opponents. But after a disastrous 9.9 and 9.5 in the 17th and 18th shot of elimination stage, the Indian slipped down to the fourth. Swaroop aimed a good 10.1 and 10.2 but it was just not enough to land him back in the medal position, as he was eliminated.
Earlier in the day another Indian shooter, Avani clinched gold in the women's air rifle event. The 19-year-old became the first woman from India to win a Paralympics gold medal. Avani finished with a Paralympic Record and in-process equalled the World Record with 249.6 points. China's Cuiping Zhang grabbed silver by scoring 248.9 points while Ukraine's Iryna Shchetnik won bronze.