Indian para shooter Manish Narwal won the silver medal in the men’s 10m air pistol SH1 event at the Asian Para Games on Tuesday, securing a quota for the 2028 Los Angeles Paralympics.
The two-time Paralympic medallist scored 233.7 points to finish second on the podium. South Korea’s Jeongdu Jo clinched the gold medal with a Games-record score of 241.3.
India’s Rudransh Khandelwal finished seventh in the eight-shooter final with 127.3 points.
Narwal and Khandelwal secured their places in the final after strong performances in the qualification round. Khandelwal finished second with a score of 571-21x, while Narwal placed fifth with 570-15x.
Another Indian shooter, Nihal Singh, finished 12th in the qualification round with 560-9x.
The silver medal adds to Narwal’s impressive Paralympic record. He won silver in the men’s 10m air pistol SH1 event at the Paris 2024 Paralympics. At the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, he became the first Indian male shooter to win Paralympic gold, claiming the mixed SH1 50m pistol title.
The SH1 sport class in pistol shooting is designated for athletes with upper- and/or lower-limb impairments.
Sumedha Pathak and Shrishti Arora reach women’s final
India also secured two places in the women’s 10m air pistol SH1 final, with Sumedha Pathak and Shrishti Arora advancing from the qualification round.
Pathak topped the qualification standings with 561-18x, while Arora finished fifth with 560-8x.
However, Paris 2024 Paralympic bronze medallist Rubina Francis missed out on the final after finishing 10th in qualification with 558-16x.
India opened its gold medal account at the Games on Monday when won the women’s 10m air rifle standing SH1 event.
Agarwal set a new Asian Para Games record with a score of 250.0, while two-time Paralympic champion Avani Lekhara secured silver with 249.6 points. The result marked India’s first one-two finish at the Aichi-Nagoya Games.
India aims to build on record Hangzhou campaign
India entered the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Para Games following its best-ever campaign at Hangzhou 2023, where the country won a record 111 medals.
The Indian contingent finished fifth in the overall standings with 29 gold, 31 silver and 51 bronze medals.
Narwal’s silver and LA 2028 Paralympics quota mark another significant achievement for India’s para-shooting contingent as the country looks to build on its growing success at major international competitions.