Avani Lekhara’s hopes of adding a second medal to the gold she won in the R2 Women’s 10m Air Rifle SH1 did not materialize as the 19-year-old Indian shooter finished 27th in the R3 Mixed 10m Air Rifle Prone SH1 qualification.
Avani could manage only 629.7 in the qualifying round as South Korea’s Park Jin-ho topped the round with a Paralympic Record score of 638.9. Germany’s Natascha Hiltrop was second with a score of 635.4.
Shooter Avani Lekhara, who became India’s first female gold medallist in Paralympic Games two days ago, failed to replicate her success as she crashed out in the qualification round of the mixed 10m Air Rifle Prone SH1 event here on Wednesday.
Avani, who had scores of 105.9, 105.0, 104.9, 105.3, 104.2, 104.4, was the best placed among the three Indians in the fray as Sidhartha Babu was 40th with a score of 625.5 and Deepak finished 43rd among 47 shooters with a score of 624.9. The Mixed 10m Air Rifle Prone SH1 was not the strong event for Avani and that was evident as the Indian could not keep pace with the top shooters.
The top eight shooters in the qualifying round made it to the final which will be held later in the day.