Pistol shooter Swaroop finishes 14th, fails to qualify for final at Paralympics

Chateauroux, Aug 31 (PTI) Indian shooter Swaroop Unhalkar finished a dismal 14th in the men’s 10m air rifle standing (SH1) qualification round to miss the eight-player final by quite a distance at the Paralympic Games here on Saturday.

The 38-year-old Unhalkar, who had missed a bronze medal by a whisker at the Tokyo Paralympics three years ago, was far from impressive in an 18-shooter field on Saturday, aggregating 613.4 points.

South Korea’s Park Jinho topped the qualification with a score of 624.4, a clear 10.5 points ahead of Unhalkar.

Unhalkar never rose beyond the 13th rank, and at one point during the contest had slipped to 16th.

The Kolhapur marksman, who was diagnosed with polio at an early age that left him paralysed in both the legs, did manage a decent second series of 103.0 but again slipped back into mediocrity.

He had scores of 101.8, 103.0, 101.7, 101.8, 102.4, 102.7 to aggregate 613.4.

The SH1 category is for para shooters who can hold their gun without difficulty and shoot from a standing or sitting position (in a wheelchair or chair).

The disappointment comes just a day after women’s 10m air rifle shooter Avani Lekhara came up with an extraordinary performance to become the first Indian woman to win two Paralympic gold medals with a record-breaking performance.

India had also won a silver medal through Manish Narwal in the men’s 10m air pistol (SH1) final, and a bronze through 37-year-old late-bloomer Mona Agarwal, who finished third in the same event as Avani, on Friday.