Paris Paralympics 2024: Manish Narwal settles for silver in air pistol event

Manish Narwal (Pic: X/@Media_SAI)

India's ace shooter Manish Narwal earned the nation its fourth medal at the Paris Paralympics 2024. Narwal clinched a silver medal in the men's 10m air pistol event.

In the Tokyo Paralympics 2020, Manish Narwal claimed a gold medal in the event.

Also Read: Paris Paralympics 2024: India's medal tally, winners

Initially, Narwal was dominating the charts but later slipped to second position following poor scores. South Korea's Jo Jeongdu clinched a gold medal in the event. The bronze medal was won by China's Yang Chao.

Narwal, the elder brother of Indian pistol marksman Shiva Narwal, shot 234.9, while Jeongdu took the gold with a total of 237.4.

Earlier in the day, the Indian athletes claimed three medals in the ongoing marquee event. Ace shooter Avani Lekhara earned the nation its first-ever medal at the Paris Paralympics 2024. She won gold in the women's 10m air pistol event. In the same event, India's Mona Agarwal secured third place by bagging bronze for the country.

Lekhara secured first place with 249.7 points and Agarwal with 228.7 points.

India's Preethi Pal won a bronze medal in the women's T35 100m event with a personal best time of 14.21 seconds. The 23-year-old Preethi's bronze is India's first medal from para-athletics in the Paris Paralympics. China's Zhou Xia (13.58) and Guo Qianqian (13.74) won the gold and silver respectively.

T35 classification is meant for athletes who have coordination impairments such as hypertonia, ataxia and athetosis, as well as cerebral palsy.

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 an increase in numbers but also in medal hopes, as the nation aims to surpass its previous achievements in Tokyo.