Indian para shooters continued their trend of winning medals with Rubina Francis claiming a bronze medal in the women's air pistol SH1 event final in the Paris Paralympics on Saturday. (Daily Blog | Full Coverage | More Sports News)
Rubina scored a total of 211.1 to finish third in the eight-woman final. She had qualified for the final at seventh spot in the qualification round earlier in the day.
Who Is Rubina Francis?
The 25-year-old was born in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh. Her parents called her 'Palak' but it was her inner athlete that her parents sighted and soon she was scouted by Gun for Glory Shooting Academy. The MP-based athlete finished her education from GS College of Commerce and Economics in Nagpur and has her training based out in Madhya Pradesh Shooting Academy of India.
"I wanted to do something else besides study in school. Gun for Glory Academy came to my school to advertise shooting and I told my father I wanted to do this. So I registered myself and I got selected. That is how the interest developed. My parents backed me and that is how I took up shooting. The journey started from there," said Rubina, as reported by Olympics quoted in FirstPost.
Rubina was trained under coach Nishant Nathwani. But at the MP Shooting Academy, Rubina was managed by Jaspal Rana. She started training in shooting at the prime age of 15 and since then, hasn't looked back.
She made her debut in 2017 World Cup and fast-forward to 2024, she is a World Champion and a Paralympics bronze medallist.
Name: Rubina Francis (TOPS)
Date of Birth: 25th June 1999
Home Location: Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh
Discipline: Para Shooting
Event: P2 – 10m Air Pistol – SH1
Training Base: Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range, Delhi
Disability Class: SH1 (For Pistol- Upper and/or lower limb impairment but with the ability to hold their gun without difficulty and shoot from a standing or sitting position)
Achievements
Paralympics Games (2020) – 7th place (P2 – 10m Air Pistol)
Asian Para Games (2022) – Bronze Medal (P2 – 10m Air Pistol)
Osijek World Cup (2023) – Silver Medal (P2 – 10m Air Pistol) & Bronze Medal (P5 – Mixed 10m Air Pistol)
Changwon World Cup (2023) – 2 Silver Medals (P2 (Team) – 10m Air Pistol & P5 – Mixed 10m Air Pistol) and Bronze Medal (P2 – 10m Air Pistol)
Changwon World Cup (2022) – Silver Medal (P2 (Team) – 10m Air Pistol) & 2 Bronze Medals (P2 – 10m Air Pistol & P6 Mixed Team)
Chateauroux World Cup (2022) – 1 Gold Medal (P6 Mixed Team), 2 Silver Medals (P2 (Team) – 10m Air Pistol & P5 – Mixed 10m Air Pistol) and Bronze (P2 – 10m Air Pistol)
As India’s First Woman Pistol Para Shooter, Rubina’s story is a testament to resilience, determination, and the transformative power of sport in overcoming adversity.
