Singhraj Adana, an Indian shooter who has only been shooting for four years, won the Paralympic bronze medal in the P1 men’s 10m air pistol SH1 event here on Tuesday.
The 39-year-old, who has polio and was competing in his first Olympic Games, shot a total of 216.8 to finish third after qualifying for the eight-man final as the sixth best shooter.
Manish Narwal, who had the highest qualifying score of 575, was eliminated in seventh place when it counted most.
This is India’s second shooting medal. On Monday, Avani Lekhara took first place in the women’s 10m air rifle standing finals (SH 1).
Adana, who had been hovering around the top three, was knocked out of competition with his terrible 19th shot, but he was able to claw his way back into contention with his 20th try, as China’s Xiaolong Lou scored 8.6.
China, on the other hand, swept the finals, with gold and silver medals going to defending champion Chao Yang (237.9 — a Paralympic record) and Huang Xing (237.5).
Singhraj had moved up to third position but his 9.1 dropped him to fourth as the Chinese shooter struggled with a poor series.
The shooter from Bahadurgarh, Haryana, had only been shooting for four years and had previously served as the chairman of the Sainik School in Faridabad.
During World War II, his grandpa was a member of the country’s liberation movement and served in the British Indian Army.
Due to a bad 19th shot on Tuesday, he was on the verge of missing the podium. But he pulled himself together just in time.
Adana entered the Games after earning gold at the 2021 Para Sport World Cup in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates, when he beat off 2016 Rio Paralympics bronze medalist Server Ibragimov by 2.8 points.
Because the handgun is held with one hand only, competitors in the SH1 category have a disability that affects one arm or leg, such as amputations or spinal cord injuries. The men’s 10 air pistol competition is classified as P1.
Some shooters compete while seated, while others compete while standing, as required by the rules.
Deepender Singh, the other Indian shooter in the competition, came in 10th place.
Rubina Francis, a fan favourite, finished eighth in the women’s 10m air pistol SH1 final earlier in the day.
Rubina was eliminated in seventh place at the Akasa Shooting Range after scoring 128.1 points.
Because the pistol is only held in one hand, athletes in the SH1 pistol have a disability affecting one arm or leg, such as amputations or spinal cord injuries.
With a world record score of 239.2, Iran’s Sareh Javanmardi won the gold medal. Rubina had previously held the world record with a score of 238.1.
Rubina’s mission was always going to be difficult after she shot a terrible 6.6 in the first season.
Even collecting 93.1 points at the completion of the first competition stage, she was positioned fourth as the elimination rounds began.
She tried but failed to make up lost ground, and she was the second shooter in the eight-woman final to be eliminated.
She had done well in the qualifying rounds, finishing seventh with 560 points and qualifying for the final.
Rubina was in 13th place with 91 points at the end of the first series, but by the end of the second series, the Indian shooter had moved up to sixth place with a total of 187 points.
Rubina climbed to third place with 282 points during the halfway mark of the qualifying round.
Rubina slid to seventh place in the following two series, scoring 93 and 93, respectively.
In the finals of the World Cup in Lima, Peru in June, the 22-year-old from Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, broke a new world record.
She was born with a disability in one of her legs.
While at the national training camp in May, she developed COVID-19.
She couldn’t train for more than a month, until a few days before the World Cup event in Lima, Peru, where she won gold in the women’s SH1 10m air pistol and a quota spot for Tokyo.
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