Paris Paralympics: Indian Shooting Contingent Departs For French Capital With High Hopes

Indian shooting team for the Paralympics 2024 left for Paris on Saturday with the purpose of following on their exceptional performance in the last edition of the Games in Tokyo. (More Sports News)

Indian para shooters had a historic time in Tokyo as they won two gold, a silver and two bronze medals in the shooting events. The current batch also leaves for Paris with hopes of bettering the tally.

The team consists of 10 shooters with reigning Paralympic champions Avani Lekhara and Manish Narwal aiming to defend their titles in Paris.

Narwal had won 50m pistol (SH1) gold in Tokyo while Lekhara had finished on top in the 10m air rifle event (SH1). Lekhara had also won a bronze in the 50m rifle 3-positions (SH1).

Apart from the Tokyo gold winners, the Indian contingent also includes Amir Ahmad Bhat, Rudransh Khandelwal, Mona Agarwal, Rubina Francis, Swaroop Mahavir Unahalkar, Sidhartha Babu, Shriharsha Devaraddi and Nihal Singh.

The 2024 Paralympics begin from August 28 and go on till September 8. The shooting events are scheduled to commence on 30th August at the renowned Châteauroux Shooting Centre where the Paris Olympics shooting competition also took place.

Speaking on behalf of the team, Manish Narwal expressed his excitement, saying, "Our preparations have been intense, and we are eager to give our best shot in Paris. We aim to surpass our previous performance and bring more medals home."

The Paralympic Committee is expecting a record breaking 25 plus medals from the Paris Paralympics. The shooting team will have to be on target if India wants to achieve its ambitious goal of 25 medals.