India’s Mona Agarwal, competing in only her fourth international competition, won the gold medal in women’s 10m air rifle SH1 category at the WSPS Para Shooting World Cup to clinch a 2024 Paris Paralympic quota place for the country here on Saturday.
Avani Lekhara, the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics gold medallist, won the bronze medal in the event.
Mona, 37, who took up shooting sport in December 2021 after making a mark at the state level in shot put and powerlifting, has become the ninth Indian para shooter to secure a Paris berth.
The mother of two children shot a modest 618 in the qualification round at the Karni Singh ranges here to enter the eight-shooter final placed seventh.
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Avani showed fine touch in qualification, scoring a remarkable 623.9 to be placed fourth going into the finals.
In the final, Mona’s resoluteness came to the fore as she beat back the challenge of China’s Zhang Cuiping to bag the top podium finish with a score of 250.7.
Zhang shot 248.8 for her silver, while Avani, who booked a Paris quota in 2022, finished third with a score of 227.0.
“I am extremely elated to have secured a quota place for the country in only my fourth international competition,” said the wheelchair-bound Mona, who was struck by polio within months of her birth.
Mona was in her elements in the final, showing no signs of nerves as she kept shooting 10-plus scores in all her shots batting a 9.9 in the first competition series.
“Winning a gold medal in the first-ever World Cup being organised by India is something special. The feeling of winning laurels for the country on home soil is something that is hard to explain,” Mona told PTI.
The ongoing Para World Cup is the first-ever being hosted by India and a record number of more than 270 shooters from 46 countries are competing in the mega event to secure the 20 Paris Parlympic berths on offer.
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