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HIGHLIGHTS

  • PM Modi led the wishes for Manish Narwal and Singhraj Adana
  • Manish and Singhraj completed a spectacular 1-2 in Mixed 50m Pistol Shooting
  • With the 1-2, India took its shooting tally to 5 medals at Tokyo Paralympics

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Olympic gold medalist Abhinav Bindra led the wishes for India’s para-shooter Manish Narwal and Singhraj Adana after they bagged the gold and silver in a sensation one-two finish in the Mixed 50m Pistol SH1 shooting event at the Tokyo Paralympics on Saturday.

The 19-year-old Narwal, who holds the world record in the category, shot a total of 218.2, a Paralympic record, to claim the yellow metal in his debut Games. The 39-year-old Adana, who had won the bronze in the P1 men’s 10m air pistol SH1 event on Tuesday, added a silver to his kitty with an effort of 216.7 as India continued its medal rush in the sport.

Taking to social media, Prime Minister Narendra Modi lauded Manish Narwal, highlighting that the shooting gold medal is a special moment in Indian sporting history.

“Glory from the Tokyo #Paralympics continues. Great accomplishment by the young and stupendously talented Manish Narwal. His winning the Gold Medal is a special moment for Indian sports. Congratulations to him. Best wishes for the coming times. #Praise4Para,” PM Modi wrote.

With his feat, Adana joins the elite list of Indians who have won multiple medals in the same edition of the Games.

Shooter Avani Lekhara, who won a gold and bronze in the ongoing Games and Joginder Singh Sodhi, who fetched one silver and two bronze medals in the 1984 Paralympics, are the other two Indians who have achieved the feat.

“The outstanding Singhraj Adhana does it again! He wins yet another medal, this time in the Mixed 50m Pistol SH1 event. India rejoices due to his feat. Congrats to him. Wishing him the very best for the future endeavours,” PM modi wrote.

Abhinav Bindra called the spectacular 1-2 finish “stuff of dreams”. Notably, India had finished the Tokyo Olympics campaign without a single medal in shooting. However, the para-shooters have won as many as 5 medals in Tokyo.

Russian Olympic Committee’s Sergey Malyshev took home the bronze with an effort of 196.8.

Narwal, who has an impairment in his right hand, had a sluggish start and was in danger of being eliminated after shots of 7.7 and 8.3 but the teenager from Faridabad held his nerve.

On the other hand, Adana was off to a flying start, leading the proceedings after 10 shots but slipped in the middle.

However, both Indians upped their games when it mattered the most, edging out the challenge of two Chinese shooters and Sergey to go against each other for the gold medal.

In the final series, Narwal, who took up shooting in 2016, shot 8.4 and 9.1 while Adana finished with 8.5 and 9.4.

As the pistol is held with one hand only, athletes in SH1 category have an impairment affecting one arm and/or the legs, for example resulting from amputations or spinal cord injuries. P4 is a classification for the mixed 50m air pistol competition.

Author

India today

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