CHENNAI: Avani Lekhara had already scripted history on Monday when she became the first Indian woman to win a Paralympic gold by claiming the top honours in the 10m air rifle standing SH1 event. On Friday, she further cemented her place in history books by claiming the 50m Rifle 3 Position SH1 bronze and becoming the first Indian woman to win multiple Paralympic medals in the same edition.
For her to achieve twin podium finishes within five days in Tokyo, the 19-year-old from Jaipur did not only have to grapple with physical limitations but also lack of shooting infrastructure in her hometown.
The countrywide lockdown meant that her troubles were exacerbated only further.
"We set up a 10m electronic shooting range at home last year, but for 50m, we needed more space and that was not possible. We procured permission to train at Rajasthan Sports Council's shooting range in Jaipur but it also doesn't have the 50m electronic range. These factors definitely affected her show in the event. Had the facilities been there, who knows, she might have clinched the gold," Praveen Lekhara, Avani's father, told this daily.
Given the unavailability of the 50m range in Jaipur, Avani and her team — including coach Chandra Sekhar — had to make do with facilities available in their backyard. "Scatt system was installed and the 10m range was calibrated into 50m for training," said the coach, who is associated with the para shooter since 2016.
She finally got the opportunity to train at the 50m electronic range when she moved to New Delhi in July this year to train at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range. "That one month ahead of the Paralympics was crucial. We strictly followed the training and technical chart in Delhi," he added.
Avani was also not satisfied with her bronze medal show. “I wasn’t satisfied even with the gold. When I won the gold, I wanted the last shot to be better. So, this bronze is definitely not satisfying. I could have done better than this. It's just what finals do to you,” she said during a virtual interaction facilitated by the broadcaster Eurosport and Paralympic Committee of India (PCI). She will now be seen in the mixed 50m Rifle Prone SH1 event on Sunday.
Harvinder wins India's first archery medal
Harvinder Singh on Friday held his nerve to down Kim Min Su of Korea in a thrilling shoot-off to win India's first-ever archery medal in the Paralympics. In the bronze playoff of the men's individual recurve event, the 31-year-old was leading 5-3 before his opponent clinched the fifth set by shooting a perfect 10 to force a shoot-off, where the Indian responded by shooting a perfect 10 against Kim's 8 for a 6-5 (26-24, 27-29, 28-25, 25-25, 26-27) (10-8) win.
Good day for shuttlers
Indian shuttler Pramod Bhagat and his partner Palak Kohli qualified for the mixed doubles semifinals on Friday. Apart from the pair, three singles players, including Noida District Magistrate Suhas Yathiraj, also made the last-four stage. Bhagat had qualified for the men's singles SL3 event on Thursday. Others who qualified for the semifinals in men's singles are Tarun Dhillon and Manoj Sarkar.