Mumbai, Aug 30 India's top rifle shooting coach Suma Shirur, who coached Avani Lekhara to the gold medal in the Paralympic Games in Paris, on Friday congratulated her on her incredible achievement. Avani won the gold medal in the R2 Women's 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1 competition at the Paris Paralympic Games, becoming the first Indian to win gold medals in back-to-back Paralympics.
The 22-year-old shooter from Jaipur in Rajasthan has been training at the Lakshya Shooting Club in Navi Mumbai, which is set up and managed by Suma Shirur, since 2018. This is Avani's second gold medal in the Paralympics after she won the Women's 10m Air Rifle SH1 title in the Tokyo edition three years ago. In Tokyo, she had also won a bronze medal in the Women's 50m Rifle 3 Positions SH1.
"Many congratulations to all of us! Back-to-back golds in consecutive Paralympics for India's Golden Girl, Avani Lekhara. Respect for her incredible achievement," said Shirur on Friday.
The senior coach, who had also trained the Indian rifle shooters for the Paris Olympic Games, said two Indian para-shooters -- Avani and Mona Agarwal -- making it to the finals in the R2 - Women's 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1 event was a great result. Mona Agarwal won a bronze medal in the event, thus making it the second time in the history of para-shooting that two Indians finished on the podium in the Paralympics. In Tokyo, Manish Narwal and Singhraj Adhana won gold and silver respectively in the Mixed 50m Air Pistol event.
Avani has been training with Suma Sirur since 2018 at Lakshya Shooting Club. She travels to train with Suma in Navi Mumbai 3-4 times a year.
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