Reigning Paralympic champion, Avani Lekhara has lived up to her reputation and made it to the final of the women's 10m air rifle event at the ongoing Paralympic Games in Paris. She put up a brilliant show finishing at second place in the qualification round with a score of 625.8 falling just 0.2 points short of the Paralympic record.
Along with her, another Indian competing in the same category, Mona Agarwal has also qualified for the final raising multiple medal hopes for India. Mona finished fifth among 17 athletes with a final score of 623.1 after a series of six sets to make it to the final. Ukraine's Iryna Shchetnik ended the qualification round on top with a score of 627.5 which is also a Paralympic record.
As for Avani Lekhara, she has a great chance to add one more feather to her cap by defending her gold medal from the Tokyo Paralympics. Three years ago in Tokyo, she had become the first Indian woman to win a gold medal at the Paralympic Games and was also the first Indian to win a medal in shooting at the Games. Before leaving for the Paralympics in Paris, Avani had stated she was focusing more on the process and that the results will take care of itself.
"I think we have been in a very positive environment throughout. We are just focusing on the process rather than the outcome. There, obviously, will be expectations but those expectations only motivate me and inspire me more to give my best," she had told PTI.
Here's the list of athletes who qualified for the final of the women's 10m air rifle event
Iryna Shchetnik (Ukraine) - 627.5
Avani Lekhara (India) - 625.8
Veronika Vadovicova (Slovakia) - 624.2
Yunri Lee (Korea) - 624
Mona Agarwal (India) - 623.1
Anna Benson (Sweden) - 620.5
Yixin Zhong (China) - 617.6
Cuiping Zhang (China) - 617.6
