Mona Agarwal Outshoots Avani Lekhara for Historic Gold as India Opens Asian Para Games 2026 With a One-Two Finish
NEW DELHI: India could not have asked for a better start to its campaign at the Asian Para Games 2026. On the opening day of competitions in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, rifle shooters Mona Agarwal and Avani Lekhara produced a spectacular one-two finish in the women's 10m air rifle SH1 event, with Mona edging her celebrated compatriot by the narrowest of margins to claim the country's first gold medal on Monday.
The final, a 24-shot contest that kept spectators on the edge of their seats till the very last pellet, saw Mona stage a remarkable comeback from sixth place to set an Asian Para Games record of 250.0 points. Avani, the defending champion and a two-time Paralympic gold medallist, finished with 249.6 — a mere 0.4 points adrift — to settle for silver. South Korea's Yunri Lee took the bronze with 227.9.
The duel between the two shooters, both from Rajasthan and both seasoned campaigners on the international stage, went down to the final shot. Mona held a slender 0.1-point advantage — 239.2 to 239.1 — going into the decisive attempt. Under immense pressure, the 38-year-old held her nerve to shoot a superb 10.8, while Avani managed 10.5, sealing the gold for the Paris Paralympics bronze medallist.
Earlier in the day, Mona had set the tone by topping the qualification round with 629.1 points, establishing an Asian Para Games qualification record. Avani was second with 626.4. But the final scripted a very different drama in its opening stages.
Avani, aiming to defend the gold she had won in Hangzhou, began confidently with a 10.8 to Mona's 10.1. She led after the first five shots with 53.2 points and extended her advantage after the next five, reaching 104.8 while Mona languished in sixth place with 102.9 — nearly two points off the pace.
The turning point arrived during the elimination stage. As Avani's scores began to dip with a string of modest results, Mona found her rhythm. Shot by shot, she climbed the standings with the consistency that has marked her career, setting up the thrilling finish that eventually gave India its golden start.
For Mona, a mother of two and a bronze medallist at the 2024 Paris Paralympics, the victory is a statement of arrival at the very top of para shooting. It was also a moment of quiet redemption: she had finished sixth at the previous Asian Para Games in Hangzhou, and Monday's gold saw her surpass the Games record previously held by Avani.
Avani, 24, remains one of India's most decorated para athletes. Before this silver, she had won gold in the women's 10m air rifle SH1 event at both the Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, along with medals at the World Championships. Her silver in Nagoya added another major podium to an already glittering career, and it came with a bonus — the medal secured India a second quota place for the 2028 Los Angeles Paralympics.
Mona had already earned one quota for the country at the World Shooting Para Sport (WSPS) World Championships in Changwon, South Korea, last month, where she won silver.
The SH1 classification is for shooters with lower limb impairments, and the event underlined India's growing dominance in para shooting — a discipline where the country's athletes have consistently punched above their weight.
India's medal rush did not stop at the shooting range. Judoka Kapil Parmar clinched the bronze medal in the men's J1 -70kg event, defeating Indonesia's Rafli Ahnaf Shidqi by ippon in just one minute and nine seconds. The Paris Paralympics bronze medallist had booked his semifinal berth with a win over Mongolia's Bat-erdene Baatarsuren in four minutes and 53 seconds, but lost to Indonesia's Junaedi by ippon in the last four before bouncing back in the bronze-medal bout.
Earlier in the day, visually impaired judoka Kokila had assured India of a medal by defeating China's Yi Liu 1-0 in the women's J2 -52kg semifinals, registering one waza-ari and one yuko against her opponent. Kokila, who had won bronze in the -48kg category at the Hangzhou edition, was scheduled to fight for gold later in the day.
The backdrop to Monday's triumph gives it added weight. The 2026 edition is only the fifth Asian Para Games, and the first to be hosted in Aichi-Nagoya, with the slogan "Imagine One Heart" chosen to capture the spirit of breaking down barriers between persons with and without impairments.
Around 3,000 athletes from 45 National Paralympic Committees are competing across 18 sports from October 18 to 24, making it the largest gathering of para athletes on the continent since Hangzhou.
India arrived in Nagoya with a point to prove. At Hangzhou — the fourth edition, held in October 2023 after a one-year postponement — the country delivered its finest performance ever at a major multi-sport event, finishing fifth in the overall standings with 111 medals, including 29 gold, 31 silver and 51 bronze.
That tally continued a remarkable upward curve: from 14 medals at Guangzhou 2010, to 33 at Incheon 2014, to 72 at Jakarta 2018, and finally the record 111 at Hangzhou. Para shooting contributed six medals to the Hangzhou haul, and the discipline has since emerged as one of the country's most reliable medal pipelines.
The Indian contingent at these Games is being led by two of its most accomplished para athletes — Paralympic champion shuttler Pramod Bhagat and para table tennis star Bhavina Patel, who carried the Tricolour together at the opening ceremony on October 18. The pairing was a deliberate symbol of India's journey from participation to podium contention in para sport, and Monday's one-two finish in shooting suggested that the transition is well and truly complete.
Taken together, India's opening-day haul put the contingent among the early front-runners at the Games. With several days of competition remaining, the one-two finish by Mona and Avani set a benchmark that the rest of the Indian squad will hope to emulate.
The Asian Para Games, held every four years, is the premier multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities in the continent. For India, the 2026 edition in Nagoya carries special significance, coming in the middle of the cycle leading up to the Los Angeles Paralympics in 2028. Performances here will shape selection, seeding and, crucially, qualification for Los Angeles.
Mona's record-breaking gold also carried a symbolic weight. In beating Avani — arguably the face of Indian para sport — she signalled that the country's bench strength in para shooting runs deep. Both shooters' performances guaranteed that India will have two representatives in the women's 10m air rifle SH1 event at Los Angeles 2028, giving the nation two shots at the podium in a discipline it has increasingly owned.
As the tricolour rose in Nagoya on Monday morning, it marked not just a victory for Mona Agarwal, but a declaration: Indian para sport's depth is its greatest strength, and the road to Los Angeles 2028 has begun with a golden step.
(Reporting based on The Hindu and The Indian Express.)