Sonepat village rejoices as local boy Manish Narwal wins gold in Tokyo Paralympics
ROHTAK: As soon as 19-yearold Indian shooter Manish Narwal won gold in the mixed 50m pistol SH1 finals at Asaka Shooting Range in Tokyo Paralympics on Saturday, celebrations broke out at his native Kathura village in Sonepat and his home in Faridabad.
Manish created a record as he amassed 218.2 points to win the gold. Kathura residents erupted with joy after Narwal bagged the medal. Residents gathered at Narwal’s home where they garlanded his 95-year-old grandfather Choudhary Dalip Singh Narwal.
Manish’s father had shifted to Faridabad along with his family in 1993. But they have a house and land in Kathura village and Manish’s family makes frequent visits to their native place.
Manish’s grandfather said, “This is the happiest moment for me. The residents of our village have decided to felicitate my grandson once he returns from abroad.”
Manish is among five of his siblings. His younger siblings Sikha Narwal (17) and Shiva (15) are also shooters and are practicing to take part in the world championship. Manish is a Bachelor of Arts second year student at a Faridabad college.
Talking over the phone, his elder brother Manjeet Narwal said his brother has made the country proud by winning gold.
“My grandfather and other family members are excited after his brilliant performance. My brother and two other siblings used to go to Ballabgarh in Faridabad everyday for practice. Manish had problems in his right hand since birth and we taken him to many hospitals but to no avail. He is a courageous boy. We have been receiving calls after calls from our friends, relatives, and
others since is win,” he added.
Gold medallist Sumit Antil gets grand welcome in Sonepat
A convoy of vehicles and people showering flowers was how residents of Khewra village in
Sonepat welcomed their hero Sumit Antil who won gold in the Paralympics. He was welcomed at more than 25 places and it took over five hours for him to reach his native Khewra village from Sonepat.
Sumit said his sister had sought gold medal from him on Rakshabandhan and he is feeling glad to have fulfilled her wish.
“I never expected such an amazing welcome. I’m happy to have won gold but am pained that I cannot join the Indian Army like Neeraj Chopra. My father was in the Indian Air Force and I hoped to join the defence services. I thank my coaches Virender Dhankar and Naval for supporting me in tough days. They are my heroes,” he added.
“I was doing wrestling before meeting with a road accident in 2015 when I was returning from tuition. I was inspired by wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt after he had won a bronze medal in the Olympics. After
MANISH CREATED A RECORD AS HE AMASSED 218.2 POINTS TO WIN THE GOLD
the fatal accident, I had switched to javelin and with god’s grace, I won gold for the country,” he added.
Meanwhile, Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar attended a felicitation programme at Kherwa village and accepted all 27 demands of the villagers. “We will provide a stadium and set up public health centre in Khewra. We have also decided to allocate a budget of Rs 14 crore for sewage and Rs 3 crore for potable water facilities,” he added.