Manish Narwal Wins Silver at Asian Para Games, Secures 2028 Paralympic Quota
Manish Narwal clinched silver in the 10m air pistol SH1 event at the Asian Para Games, securing his spot for the 2028 Paralympics.
Nagoya, October 20 (Daily Kiran) : Two-time Paralympic medalist Manish Narwal achieved a remarkable feat at the Asian Para Games in Nagoya, winning a silver medal in the 10-meter air pistol SH1 category. His performance not only earned him a podium finish but also secured his qualification for the 2028 Los Angeles Paralympics.
Narwal scored 233.7 points, finishing second to South Korea’s Jeongdu Jo, who set a games record with a score of 241.3 to take home the gold. In the same final, another Indian shooter, Rudransh Khandelwal, finished in seventh place with a score of 127.3.
During the qualification round, Khandelwal ranked second with a score of 571-21x, while Narwal placed fifth with 570-15x, both securing their spots in the final. Nihal Singh scored 560-9x, finishing 12th in the qualification round. Narwal previously won a silver medal in the men’s 10-meter air pistol shooting SH1 class at the Paris Paralympics 2024. He made history at the Tokyo 2020 Games by becoming the first Indian male shooter to win a gold medal in the mixed SH1 50-meter pistol event.
In the women’s 10-meter air pistol SH1 category, Sumedha Pathak and Srishti Arora also advanced to the finals, securing first and fifth places in the qualification round with scores of 561-18x and 560-8x, respectively. Notably, bronze medalist Rubina Francis from the 2024 Paris Paralympics did not qualify for the final, finishing 10th with a score of 558-16x.
On Monday, Mona Agarwal set a new Asian Para Games record in the women’s 10-meter air rifle standing SH1 event, winning India’s first gold medal at these games with a score of 250.0. Two-time Paralympic champion Avani Lekhara followed closely, earning a silver with a score of 249.6, marking a historic moment as India claimed the top two spots in this event.
India has arrived in Nagoya following its most successful campaign at the Hangzhou 2023 Asian Para Games, where the country won a record 111 medals, including 29 gold, 31 silver, and 51 bronze, finishing fifth overall.
