Tokyo Paralympics: Manish Narwal wins gold, Singhraj Adhana clinches silver
The Indian athletes are scripting history at the ongoing Tokyo Paralympics. Shooter Manish Narwal won the gold medal in mixed 50m pistol SH1 event on Saturday. This is India's third gold at the Tokyo Paralympic Games. Meanwhile, Singhraj Adhana bagged his second medal (silver) in Tokyo in the same event. He had earlier clinched bronze in the P1 men's 10m air pistol SH1 event.
Manish sets a new Paralympic record
Manish shot a total of 218.2, a Paralympic record, to claim the gold medal. Adhana, who won silver, registered a final score of 216.7. Meanwhile, Sergey Malyshev of the Russian Olympic Committee won the bronze medal after having shot 196.8.
Manish and Singhraj fared well despite stumbling
Manish racked up 533-7x points in the qualification stage. His compatriot Singhraj scored 536-4x points after the end of six series. The latter finished fourth, while Manish occupied the seventh spot. In the final, Singhraj fared better than Manish initially. The duo did well in the elimination stage. Manish eventually dethroned Singhraj at the top, shooting 10.8 and 10.5.
Manish had won gold at Para Shooting World Cup
Manish, who started pistol shooting in 2016 in Haryana, has an inborn ailment in his right hand. He initially dreamed of becoming a footballer before taking up shooting. At the 2021 Para Shooting World Cup, he set a new world record and clinched gold in the P4 mixed 50m pistol SH1 event. Manish also clinched gold at the 2018 Asian Para Games.
Second medal for Singhraj
This is Singhraj Adhana's second medal in Tokyo. He earlier won bronze in the P1 men's 10m air pistol SH1 event. Singhraj shot a total of 216.8 to finish at the third spot. He had earlier qualified for the eight-man final as the sixth-best shooter. The 39-year-old, who was diagnosed with polio, made his Paralympics debut in this edition.
India have won 15 medals so far
Manish has won India's third gold medal at the ongoing Paralympics. Earlier, Avani Lekhara (shooting) and Sumit Antil (athletics) had also clinched gold for India. Besides, Singhraj is only the second Indian after Avani to win two Paralympic medals in this edition. India have now won a total of 15 medals at the Tokyo Paralympics, their best tally at a single Paralympic edition.
