Pistol shooter Manish Narwal on Saturday expressed confidence that the Indian shooting contingent will top the medal tally at the Tokyo Paralympics in the upcoming Paris Games, saying the team is in good shape after “rigorous” practice. The 10-member shooting contingent, including rifle shooters Avni Lekhara, Mona Agarwal and Narwal, will compete in the shooting events to be held in Chateaurou near Paris from August 30.
India won two gold, one silver and two bronze medals at the Tokyo Paralympics. Narwal, who won gold in the 50m pistol (SH1) in Tokyo, said before the team’s departure on Saturday, “Our preparations are good and we are looking forward to giving our best in Paris. Our aim is to surpass our previous performance and bring more medals home.”
Narwal will compete in the 10m air pistol at the Paris Games. Apart from Narwal, Avni and Mona, other members of the team are Amir Ahmed Bhat, Rudransh Khandelwal, Rubina Francis, Swaroop Unhalkar, Siddharth Babu, Sriharsh Devradi and Nihal Singh. India’s biggest hope for a medal in these games will be from Avni, who became India’s first female shooter to win two medals in the last games.
This shooter from Jaipur won gold medals in 10m air rifle and 50m rifle 3 position (SH1) at the Tokyo Paralympics. The Indian Paralympic Committee is expecting more than 25 medals from these games. Shooting will be a major contributor to India’s overall performance.
