Asian Para Games: Mona, Avani secure one-two finish in 10m air rifle qualification

Avani Lekhara and Mona Agarwal

India’s Mona Agarwal and Avani Lekhara dominated the women’s 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1 qualification at the 2026 Asian Para Games in Nagoya on Monday, finishing first and second respectively to put themselves in a strong position ahead of the final.Agarwal topped the standings with 629.1 points from six series, setting a new Asian Para Games qualification record and breaking the previous mark held by China’s Zhang Cuiping.The Indian shooter narrowly missed out on the world record of 629.4 points, which is jointly held by compatriot Lekhara and Slovakia’s Veronika Vadovicova.Lekhara secured second place with 626.4 points, completing a one-two finish for India in the qualification round.

With both shooters advancing in impressive form, India will now look to translate the strong showing into two medals in the final.The result also brought together two of India’s established names in para shooting. Avani and Mona had won gold and bronze medals respectively at the 2024 Paris Paralympics.India also qualified two shooters for the men’s 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1 final. Rakesh Nidagundi finished seventh with 619.3 points, while Swaroop Unhalkar claimed the eighth and final qualifying position with 617.4 points.

Anandha Krishnan, however, missed out on the final after finishing 13th with a score of 605.2.

Sheetal Devi equals world record in para-archery

India’s strong showing in shooting came alongside another landmark performance in para-archery, where Sheetal Devi equalled the world record in the women’s compound qualification round.

The 19-year-old scored 704 points out of a possible 720, matching the world record and improving the Asian record by six points. Her effort surpassed the previous continental mark of 698.The reigning world champion and Paris Paralympics bronze medallist emerged as one of the standout performers of the competition with her record-equalling score, and will look to maintain that form in the elimination rounds.Fellow Indian archer Payal Nag also delivered an encouraging performance, scoring 675 points to finish joint fifth in the women’s compound qualification standings.The results in shooting and archery have provided India with a strong start to Monday’s competition at the Asian Para Games in Aichi-Nagoya, with several athletes now well placed to contend for medals.