Adana wins 10m Air Pistol bronze at Tokyo Paralympics

Indian shooter Singhraj Adana won the Paralympics bronze medal in the P1 men's 10m air pistol SH1 event in Tokyo on Tuesday.

The 39-year-old, who is afflicted with polio and was making his Games debut, shot a total of 216.8 to finish the event in the third place after qualifying for the eight-man final as the sixth best shooter.

However, Manish Narwal, who topped the qualifications with 575, was eliminated in the seventh place when it mattered the most.

This is India's second medal in shooting. Avani Lekhara won the women's 10m air rifle standing finals (SH 1) on Monday.

Hovering around the top three, Adana dropped out of contention with his poor 19th shot but managed to get back in the reckoning with his 20th attempt as China's Xiaolong Lou got 8.6.

China, though, dominated the final with defending champion Chao Yang (237.9 -- Paralympic record) and Huang Xing (237.5) winning the gold and silver medals respectively.

Before his 9.1 saw him slip to fourth, Singhraj had moved up to the third place as the Chinese shooter endured a low series.

The shooter from Haryana's Bahadurgarh took to the sport only four years ago and had served as the chairman of the Sainik School in Faridabad.

His grandfather was part of the country's freedom movement and served in the British Indian Army during the second world war.

On Tuesday, he nearly missed out on the podium due to a poor 19th shot. But got his act together just in time.

Adana was coming into the Games after winning gold at the 2021 Para Sport World Cup held in Al Ain, UAE, where he upstaged 2016 Rio Paralympics bronze medallist Server Ibragimov by 2.8 points to claim the top spot.         

As the pistol is held with one hand only, athletes in SH1 category have an impairment affecting one arm and/or the legs, for example resulting from amputations or spinal cord injuries. P1 is a classification for the men's 10 air pistol competition.

Some shooters compete in a seated position, while others take aim in a standing position as defined in the rules.

The other Indian shooter in the event, Deepender Singh finished 10th.

Earlier in the day, fancied Rubina Francis finished seventh in the women's 10m air pistol SH1 final.