Neeraj Chopra 'amazed' as Avani Lekhara strikes historic gold in debut Paralympic Games

Tokyo Olympics gold medalist has come forward and congratulated Avani Lekhara as she struck gold in the Tokyo Paralympics 2020 Women's 10m Air Rifle SH1 event on Monday and etched her name in history books by the virtue of this win.

As Avani Lekhara finished at the top of the podium, not only did she win India's first medal in the ongoing edition of the Paralympic Games but she has become the first woman from the country to win a Paralympics gold medal. 

Olympic gold medalist Neeraj Chopra congratulates Paralympic gold medalist Avani Lekhara

Taking to the micro-blogging site, Neeraj Chopra who had clinched an Olympic gold medal earlier this month by winning the men's javelin throw final, congratulated Avani Lekhara on showcasing such an 'amazing performance' in her debut Paralympic Games. 

Chopra gave a special mention to the Paralympic gold medalist for giving the Indians the opportunity to listen to the national anthem again in Tokyo. 

Tokyo Paralympics: Avani Lekhara wins historic gold

Competing in the Women's 10m Air Rifle SH1 final event on Monday, Avani Lekhara won the gold medal with a score of 249.6 equalling the world record and Paralympic record. In fact, the champion shooter had qualified for the final, finishing 7th in the qualification round, with a total score of 621.7. After a slow start, she made up ground and went on to advance to the finals of the showpiece event. She registered good scores of 104.9, 104.8 in her third and fourth attempts to be in contention for the medal before scoring 104.1 in the final round of qualification.

In the finals, Lekhara started out with a score of 52.0, 51.3, and 21.6 in the first three shots. She continued to keep hold of the lead by shooting 20.8, 21.2, and 20.9 in the next three shots. In the last three shots, Lekhara shot 21.2, 20.1, and 20.5 to strike gold for India in the ongoing Paralympic Games.

China's Zhang C and Iryna Shchetnik of Ukraine won the silver and bronze medals, respectively.