Bronze for brilliant Rubina

31 August,2024 08:17 AM IST |  Chateauroux  |  PTI

Francis becomes India’s first female pistol shooter to win paralympic medal, scores a total of 211.1 to finish third in nail-biting eight-player 10m air pistol SH1 final

Francis Rubina with her bronze medal on Saturday. Pic/Getty Images


Rubina Francis shot down India's fourth medal from the shooting range, showing tremendous calm and composure in a high-class field to clinch a bronze in the women's 10m air pistol SH1 event in the Paris Paralympics on Saturday.

Competing in a top-class field consisting of the defending champion and world record holder among others, the 25-year-old Rubina held her own to score a total of 211.1 for a third-place finish in the eight-woman final.

Seventh in qualifying

She had qualified for the final at seventh spot in the qualification round earlier in the day.

Iran's Javanmardi Sareh won her third successive Paralympics gold with a total score of 236.8, while world record holder Ozgan Aysel of Turkey took the silver with 231.1 in a fierce competition between the two favourites.

Also Read: Swaroop fails to make it

Rubina's medal was India's fourth in shooting and fifth overall at the Paris Paralympics. She is India's first woman pistol shooter to win a Paralympics medal.

She had secured the Paris Paralympics quota under the bipartite (wildcard) rule a few days before the contingent's departure for the French capital.

In SH1 class, athletes are able to hold their gun without difficulty and shoot from a standing or sitting position in a wheelchair or chair.

A daughter of mechanic in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, Rubina was born clubfooted. She took up the sport, inspired by her admiration for legendary Indian shooter Gagan Narang's Olympic achievements.

Her story is an example of resilience, determination, and the transformative power of sport in overcoming adversity.

Consistent effort

She was competing in her second Paralympics, having finished seventh in the final in Tokyo three years ago. Rubina was consistent all through the final. She was third at the end of Stage 1 of 10 shots with 97.6 with Ozgan leading with 99.5.

The Indian briefly slipped to fourth spot at the end of the 14th shot. But, she recovered and returned to third sport in the next series of two shots.

On Friday, Avani Lekhara had created history by successfully defending her women's 10m air rifle gold medal which she had clinched in Tokyo Paralympics, with compatriot Mona Agarwal winning the bronze.

Manish Narwal then added a silver medal in the men's 10m air pistol (SH1).

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever

"Exciting news! Mid-day is now on WhatsApp Channels Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
Paris Paralympics 2024 Paralympics sports sports news Sports Update
Related Stories