Para shooting World Cup: Avani Lekhara clinches silver

Al Ain - Indonesia's Hanik Puji Hastuti was equally impressive only to settle for the bronze with 225.6 points

Promising Avani Lekhara shot brilliantly to clinch the silver medal as India had another good day at office in the Al Ain 2021 World Shooting Para Sport World Cup here on Monday.

Avani, who had started the 2021 season with multiple gold medals at the first ever National Championships recently, put up a strong challenge in the R2-women's 10m air rifle standing SH1 final, but fell short in the end to go down to Ukraine's Iryna Shchetnik by just 0.3 points. The final score read 249-248.7.

Indonesia's Hanik Puji Hastuti was equally impressive only to settle for the bronze with 225.6 points.

Meanwhile, India's Sriharsha Devaraddi Ramakrishna settled for the bronze medal with 230.8 points in R4 mixed 10m air rifle standing SH2 finals which was decided by a shoot-off.

Italian Roberto Lazzaro, riding on his steady shooting skills, overcame Ukraine's Vitalii Plakushchyi in the first shoot-off 10.5-10.1 after the final score stood tied on 252.8. In fact, the three shooters exchanged the lead until midway of elimination round before Lazzaro and Plakushchyi shot the final series.

"This is a great moment for Shooting Para Sport in the country. After the National Championships, the shooters are winning laurels for the country in Al Ain. We are very proud of their achievements," said Deepa Malik, president of Paralympic Committee of India.

After five days of competition in Al Ain, Ukraine continued to lead the medals tally with four gold, four silver and one bronze, followed by the hosts, the United Arab Emirates, with three gold and a silver and India with one gold, one silver and a bronze medal.

A total of 120 athletes from 24 nations are competing here until 24 March at the Al Ain Equestrian, Shooting and Golf Club, the shooting range that will host the next World Championships in 2022.

This is the first World Shooting Para Sport competition in more than one year as the 2020 season was cancelled due to the Covid-19 Pandemic.