Nagoya, Oct 20 (IANS) India’s Shrishti Arora marked her debut at the Asian Para Games 2026 with a bronze medal in the women’s 10m air pistol SH1 event, finishing third in the final with a score of 214.7 on Tuesday.
The Indian shooter secured a place on the podium behind Iran’s Faezeh Ahmadi, who won gold with 237.3 points, and compatriot Sareh Javanmardi, who took silver with 237.0. The closely contested battle for the top two positions saw the Iranian shooters finish ahead of the Indian debutant.
Arora’s medal added to India’s growing returns in para shooting at the continental competition. Sumedha Pathak, the other Indian in the final, finished eighth with 111.4 points.
The bronze was India’s fourth medal in shooting at the ongoing Games. Earlier on Tuesday, Manish Narwal won silver in the men’s 10m air pistol SH1 event and secured a quota place for the 2028 Los Angeles Paralympics.
On Monday, Mona Agarwal and Avani Lekhara had finished first and second, respectively, in the women’s 10m air rifle SH1 event.
The SH1 classification features athletes with certain upper- or lower-limb impairments who can support their firearm independently and do not require a shooting stand to bear its weight.
Mona shot an Asian Para Games record score of 250 to bag the gold, while Avani shot 249.6 to win the silver as India opened their medal tally in the ongoing Games.
Mona made a brilliant comeback in the final after reeling in fifth place at a point to storm into the podium positions before fending off the challenge from others to win the coveted gold. Behind Mona and Avani, South Korea’s Yunri Lee won the bronze with a score of 227.9.
Mona broke her compatriot Avani’s Asiad Para Games record of 249.6 that the shooter had set while winning the gold in the previous Games in Hangzhou. She missed out on the world record of 252 held by Slovakia’s Iryna Shchetnik.
While Mona had already secured a quota for the 2028 Los Angeles Paralympics during the World Championships, Avani’s second-place finish helped her secure a spot as well.
For Shrishti, the podium finish provides an impressive start to her international campaign, while further strengthening India’s showing in para shooting at the 2026 Asian Para Games.
–IANS
vi/bc
About the Author
