Paris Paralympics 2024: Avani Lekhara Reaches Shooting Final with Second Place in Women’s 10-Meter Air Rifle; Manasi Loses in Para-Badminton

Indian para-shooter Avani Lekhara has advanced to the finals of the Paris Paralympics 2024. On Friday, Avani secured second place in the women’s 10-meter air rifle qualification round with a score of 625.8. Another shooter, Mona Agarwal, also made it to the finals of this event, finishing fifth in the qualification round.

In women’s singles para-badminton, India’s Manasi Joshi faced a loss in her second group stage match. She was defeated by Ukraine’s Oksana Kozynina with scores of 10-21, 21-15, 32-21. Earlier, she had lost her first match against Indonesia’s top-ranked Konita Syakurah.

Medal Hopes Rest on Karamjyoti, Sakshi Kasana, and Others

There are high hopes for medals from Karamjyoti and Sakshi Kasana in the women’s discus throw F-55 event final.

Preeti Pal will compete in the women’s 100 meters T-35 final. Manu will participate in the men’s shot put F-37 final. Arshad Sheikh will take part in the men’s C-2 3000m individual pursuit qualifying round. Meanwhile, there are also expectations of a medal from para-shooter Manish Narwal, the gold medalist from the Tokyo Paralympics.

Para Archer Sheetal Advances to Pre-Quarter Final

Indian archer Sheetal Devi secured second place in the ranking round of the women’s compound individual event at the Paris Paralympics. The 17-year-old, competing in her first Paralympics, scored 703 out of 720 points, just one point shy of setting a world record. 

Turkey’s Kyuuri Giridie set a new world record with 704 points and claimed the top spot in the ranking round.

Very few archers worldwide practice archery without hands, and Sheetal is one of the three archers in this Paralympics who will be shooting with the help of her legs. She won a silver medal at the World Championship and is competing in both mixed and singles events this time.

Sheetal Devi to Compete Against Chilean and Korean Archers

Due to her second-place finish in the ranking round, Sheetal Devi has directly qualified for the final 16. She will face the winner of the match between Chile’s Mariana Zuniga and Korea’s Choi Na-mi in the pre-quarterfinals. Zuniga won a silver medal at the Tokyo Paralympics.

In the ranking round, Zuniga was placed 15th. Sheetal, who has been shooting with her legs since birth due to the loss of both her hands, is making a notable appearance in the Paralympics. Another Indian archer, Sarita Devi, scored 682 points and is ranked ninth. She will compete against Malaysia’s Abdul Jalil in the first round.

Highlights of the First Day

Indian men’s para-badminton stars Sukant Kadam and Suhas Yathiraj both secured impressive victories in their opening men’s singles SL-3 matches. However, in the women’s singles para-badminton, Manasi Joshi lost in the third game of the SL-3 category against Indonesia’s top-seeded Konita Syakurah.

The 2024 Paralympics in India began with a clash within the country in para-badminton as Nitish Kumar and Tulasimathy Murugesan’s mixed doubles team defeated the duo of Suhas Yathiraj and Palak Kohli. 

Following this, the pairs of Sivarajan Solaimalai and Nithya Sre Sivan faced defeats. In para track cycling, Jyoti Gaderia missed out on qualifying for the medal round. In para-badminton, Tarun registered a convincing win in Group D, while Aruna Tanwar faced a loss in para-taekwondo.