India’s dream run continues with shooting, badminton golds
TOKYO: Shooter Manish Narwal smashed a Games record while shuttler Pramod Bhagat yet again asserted his supremacy with his gold-winning performance as India’s tally swelled to 17 after a four-medal show at the Tokyo Paralympics, here on Saturday.
The 19-year-old Narwal shot a total of 218.2, a Paralympic record, for gold in P4 Mixed 50m Pistol SH1 event while Bha- gat defeated Great Britain’s Daniel Bethell in the men’s singles SL3 class final for a historic gold. India now have four gold, seven silver and six bronze medals to be placed 26th with one day left in the Games.
India had won just four medals in the last edition in Rio while the total count from the 1972 edition when the country competed for the first time till these Tokyo Games was 12.
More medals are in store for India on the final day on with shuttlers Suhas Yathiraj and Krishna Nagar sailing into the men’s singles finals of SL4 class and SH6 class respectively.
Tarun Dhillon too stayed in contention for a bronze after losing his semi-finals while the duo of
Bhagat and Palak
Kohli will also feature in the third-place play-off in the mixed
SL3-SL5 class.
Narwal smashed the Paralympic record to clinch India’s third gold of the current edition of the Games while Singhraj Adhana bagged the silver to make it a sensational one-two finish for the country.
Avani flag-bearer at closing ceremony
Avani Lekhara, who has already won two medals-gold in 10m air rifle SHI and bronze in 50m air rifle SH1, has been named India’s flagbearer for the closing ceremony.
The first Indian woman to win two Paralympic medals will have a shot at claiming a third on the last day of the Games on Sunday in the mixed 50m rifle prone event.