Paris Paralympics: Avani, Sidhartha crash out from Mixed 10m Air Rifle Prone SH1 event

Paris [France], September 1 (ANI): Star India para shooters Avani Lekhara and Sidhartha Babu failed to qualify in the finals of the Mixed 10m Air Rifle Prone SH1 event at the ongoing Paris Paralympics on Sunday.
In the qualification round of the mixed 10m air rifle prone SH1 event, Avani secured 11th place with a total of 632.8 points.
While Sidhartha held 28th place in the qualification with 628.3 points.
Both the shooters showcased an average performance and failed to maintain momentum during the qualification round.
The top eight shooters moved to the final round of the event, for which both the Indians failed to advance to the next round.
Slovakia's Veronika Vadovicova topped the qualification round with 637.8 points. Meanwhile, Spain's Juan Antonio Saavedra Reinaldo and Ukraine's Iryna Shchetnik held the second and third place with 637.3 and 636.9 points respectively.
India has secured a total of five medals at the ongoing Paris Paralympics, with one gold medal, a silver, and three bronze medals.
Rubina finished third and bagged a bronze medal in the P2-Women's 10M Air Pistol SH-1 final on Saturday. She gathered a total of 211.1 points in the final. Javanmardi Sareh of Iran finished with gold (236.8 points) and Turkey's Ozgan Aysel went on to win the silver medal (231.1 points).
On Friday, reigning Paralympic champion, Avani Lekhara maintained her streak and struck gold in the women's 10m air rifle final at the ongoing Paris Paralympics. Shooter Mona Agarwal bagged the bronze medal at the same event.
India's silver medal came in shooting as well, with Manish Narwal getting a silver in the men's P1 10 m air pistol SH1 competition.
Athlete Preethi Pal secured a bronze medal in the women's T35 100 m race after clocking 14.21 seconds, which is also her personal best.
This year, India has sent its largest Paralympics contingent ever, comprising 84 athletes across 12 sports, a testament to the country's expanding para-sports ecosystem. India's participation in the Paris 2024 Paralympics marks not only a significant increase in numbers but also in medal hopes, as the nation aims to surpass its previous achievements in Tokyo. (ANI)