Abhinav Deshwal wins gold in 25m Pistol at Tokyo Deaflympics

Abhinav Deshwal clinched India’s 15th shooting medal at the Tokyo Summer Deaflympics, winning gold in the 25m Pistol event with a score of 44. He edged past South Korea’s Seung Hwa Lee, while Chetan Hanmant Sapkal finished fifth

Hyderabad: Abhinav Deshwal won India’s 15th medal in shooting at the 25th Tokyo Summer Deaflympics, clinching gold in the 25m Pistol event. He shot a score of 44 in the finals, edging past South Korea’s Seung Hwa Lee, who finished with 43. Serhii Formin of Ukraine won bronze, while the other Indian shooter, Chetan Hanmant Sapkal, finished fifth.

Abhinav started the finals with five perfect hits, followed by another four in the second series. He hit 18 of his next 20 shots, which included two series of perfect fives and two rounds of four hits. He then hit two more perfect rounds and followed it up with a round of four hits. In the tenth and final round, Abhinav managed three hits — his lowest of the final — but it was enough to secure gold.

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Earlier in qualification, Abhinav equalled the World Deaf Qualification record and the Deaflympics record with a score of 575-13x. Chetan qualified for the finals in second place with a score of 573-21x.