Tokyo Paralympics: Shooter Manish Narwal wins gold, Singhraj takes silver
Tokyo: Shooter Manish Narwal smashed the Paralympic record to clinch India’s third gold in the ongoing Tokyo Games, while compatriot Singhraj Adana bagged the silver to make it a sensational one-two finish for the country here 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 P4 Mixed 50m Pistol SH1 event in his debut Games.
“I’m very happy,” said Narwal who hails from Ballabhgarh in Haryana.
In 2016, Narwal’s family took him to a nearby shooting range and he instantly developed a keen interest in the sport and started doing practice regularly.
But at that time he did not know about Paralympic Games and he was practising and competing with other athletes for fun.
His talent was spotted by coach Jai Prakash Nautiyal and Narwal won an individual gold in P1 Air Pistol SH1 event in the 2017 Bangkok World Cup.
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.
With his feat, Adana joins the elite list of Indians who have won multiple medals in the same edition of the Games.
“Every shot is very difficult. One shot is very important, so my coach every time says ‘Singhraj, Manish, only one shot, one shot fired’,” Adana said of the final shoot-off between he and Narwal.
“The final was very difficult today. I decided (when I was) in third position, Singhraj, good, please, stop, breathe, stop, OK. And one shot, only one shot, please. No other thought, my mind is slow. And go again.”
On the trilby hat he wore during the final, Adana said, “My hat is a gift from my wife, so my very lucky hat.”
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.
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, who competes with polio-impaired lower limbs, 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.
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