Shooter Rahul Jakhar won the Sportstar Aces award for Sportsman of the Year (Parasports) at the Taj Mahal Palace in Mumbai on Monday.
Jakhar stole the show at the World Para Shooting Championship in Al Ain, UAE in November. He won a total of three medals and was the sole Indian to clinch an individual medal. “Thank you for all your support and affection. It’s a huge boost. Keep supporting me in the same fashion and I’ll strive to bring more laurels to the country,” Jakhar said.
The Paralympian paired up with Nihal Singh and Paralympic medallist Singhraj Adhana to win the gold medal in the P3 team event.
He then combined with Rubina Francis and Deependra Singh to win the P5 Mixed Team Air Pistol Standard SH1 gold medal. Jakhar also claimed India’s only individual medal - a bronze in the P3 Mixed 25m Pistol SH1 finals. He had topped the qualification stage in this event.
Jakhar’s contributions helped the Indian contingent finish in fifth place, its best-ever result after winning three bronzes at the Sydney Worlds in 2019.
Earlier in the year, Jakhar won gold in the P3 Mixed 25m Pistol SH1 finals at the Changwon Para World Cup, beating Kim Jungam in a tense shoot-off.
Former India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar, former India hockey captain M. M. Somaya, chess great Viswanathan Anand, former India football skipper Bhaichung Bhutia, Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra and Olympians Anjali Bhagwat and Aparna Popat are the members of the Sportstar Aces 2023 jury.
The event is supported by IDFC First Bank, Indian Oil, India Cements, United India, Ramaiah University, Experimenta Science Center GD Naidu Charity, Finolex Pipes, LIC, BPCL, Samsonite, Big Basket, Nippon Paint, CRICHQ, Wordswork, NewsX and Casagrand.
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