Mona Agarwal became only the second Indian female shooter to win a gold medal at the Asian Para Games, after she topped the women’s 10m air rifle SH1 event in Aichi-Nagoya on Monday. Mona, a bronze-medallist at the 2024 Paris Paralympics, shot a record score of 250.0, edging her more celebrated compatriot Avani Lekhara by just 0.4 points.
Mona’s gold was India’s first at the Asian Para Games 2026 as the country opened their medal count with a one-two finish on the podium. Avani, a two-time Paralympic gold-medallist, settled for silver with 249.6. The contest went down to the wire and Mona led Avani by a mere 0.1 point — 239.2 to 239.1 — before the final shots.
Korea’s Yunri Lee took the bronze in the same event. SH1 classification is for shooters with lower limb impairments. With this win, Mona also created a new Asian Para Games Record (surpassing Avani’s previous record of 249.6). The only other Indian female shooter to win a gold medal at Asian Para Games is Avani, who won the top price in the same event in 2022.
With this silver, Avani has also won the quota for Los Angeles 2028 Paralympics. Mona had already won it in World Championships.
Earlier on the day, Mona also set a new Asian Para Games qualification record to top the women’s 10m air rifle qualifications event, while compatriot Avani finished second. Mona topped the qualification round at the 2026 Asian Para Games, setting a new continental record with a score of 629.1 after Series 6.
She surpassed the previous Asian Para Games qualification record held by China’s Zhang Cuiping but narrowly missed the world record of 629.4, jointly held by India’s Avani Lekhara and Slovakia’s Veronika Vadovicova.
Lekhara finished second in the qualification round with a total score of 626.4, ensuring India’s strong showing in the event heading into the finals.
Meanwhile, in the men’s 10m air rifle qualifications event, Nidagundi and Unhalkar secured qualification for the finals after finishing seventh and eighth, respectively. Nidagundi scored 619.3, while Unhalkar registered 617.4 after Series 6. However, India’s Anandha Krishnan missed out on qualification, finishing 13th with a score of 605.2.
