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The 19-year-old won bronze in women’s 50m rifle 3-Positions SH1 in a thrilling finale to claim her second medal at Tokyo Paralympics.

Indian teen shooter Avani Lekhara held her nerve to win her second medal at the Tokyo Paralympics, a bronze in women’s 50m rifle 3-Positions SH1 in a thrilling finale on Friday.

Avani Lekhara Tokyo Paralympics 2020

She is the first Indian woman to win two Paralympic medals. She had earlier become the first Indian woman to win a Paralympic gold winning the women’s 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1. The 19-year-old survived being tied for fourth-place thanks to a superb standing series to claim India’s 12th medal at at ongoing Games.

Avani Lekhara Tokyo Paralympics 2020

During the 1984 Paralympics, Joginder Singh Sodhi had won multiple medals in the same edition of the Games when he clinched one silver and two bronze medals.

Avani had finished second, a point behind Sweden's Anna Normann in the qualification. The Swedish shooter and Avani both had bettered the previous Qualification World Record with some exceptional shooting.

During the qualification round, Avani had struggled a bit in the Kneeling position but found her range in the Prone and Standing to climb up the ladder.

In the final, Avani once again was slow to get off the mark scoring a 9.8 and 9.7 in her first two shots. However, she found her mark soon and shot a 10.9 in her fourth shot.

Avani, though, found the going hard in the third series in Kneeling position, with only one shot out of 5 in the over 10-point mark. Her scores improved in the Prone position, shooting a 51.5, 51.4 and 51.0. But with others shooting a little better, the Indian found herself in seesawing between 5th and 6th place.

Most shooters in the final, struggled in the Standing position, and Avani took advantage of that to make up some places and climb to fourth. She was hot on the heels of Ukraine's Iryna Shchetnik (3rd place) when the elimination stage started.

A 10.3 saw her leapfrog the Ukrainian into third but Shchetnik shot a 10.4 as compared to Avani's 10.2 to regain the third place.

With just four shooters left, the Indian trailed Shchetnik by just 0.2 points and with elimination looming, Avani held her nerves to shoot a 10.5 as compared to the Ukrainian's 9.9 to get into the medal places.

The Ukrainian was eliminated as Avani assured India another medal. But the shooters who were vying for gold and silver were far too ahead for Avani to close the gap. The Indian finished off with a 10.2 to take home the bronze. Cuiping Zhang of China won the gold, while Germany's Natascha Hiltrop clinched the silver.

Congratulations to Avani Lekhara for winning the bronze and becoming the first Indian woman to win two medals at #Paralympics. This is an outstanding feat at such a young age. Your consistency & commitment to succeed are an inspiration for all. Best wishes for future endeavours.

— President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) September 3, 2021

More glory at the Tokyo #Paralympics. Elated by the stupendous performance of @AvaniLekhara. Congratulations to her on bringing home the Bronze medal. Wishing her the very best for her future endeavours. #Praise4Para

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 3, 2021

Avani Lekhara does it again!

Many congratulations to her on bagging a #Bronze medal in the Women's 50m Rifle 3P SH1 event at Tokyo #Paralympics 2020. Her exemplary performances reflect her hard work and determination. My best wishes for her bright future. #AvaniLekhara pic.twitter.com/fvzuTlvMVf

— Vice President of India (@VPSecretariat) September 3, 2021

.@AvaniLekhara: First Ever Indian Woman to win 2 medals in the same Games!!!
First a Gold and now a Bronze  #Praise4Para #Paralympics #Tokyo2020@narendramodi @ianuragthakur @NisithPramanik @Media_SAI @PTI_News @ParalympicIndia @ShootingPara @nautiyalJP @SumaShirur pic.twitter.com/UNUAuw7qFt

— Deepa Malik (@DeepaAthlete) September 3, 2021
 

 

And that's more medals for India.

- Praveen Kumar
- Avani Lekhara

Congratulations

: Paralympics India #PBLIndia #IndianSports #IndianAthletes #IndiaAtParalympics #Paralympics #Inspirational #Cheer4India #Praise4Para pic.twitter.com/bWFy5USZWw

— PBL India (@PBLIndiaLive) September 3, 2021

Our Golden Girl, Avani brings home 2nd from Tokyo #Paralympics!!!@AvaniLekhara wins ain Women’s 50m Rifle 3P SH1 final, taking India's medal tally to 

A brilliant feat by our talented para-shooter 

IN is extremely proud of you!#Cheer4India #Praise4Para pic.twitter.com/zb3Sj3NhjH

— SAI Media (@Media_SAI) September 3, 2021

https://t.co/a12bn0PK7O

— राणसिंह राजपुरोहित #वैक्सीन जरूर लगावे (@ransinghBJP) September 3, 2021