Asian Para Games Live: Jaspreet Kaur in powerlifting final as Kapil Parmar wins bronze in judo; Mona Agarwal, Avani Lekhara win shooting gold, silver – The Tech Word News

Asian Para Games 2026 live: Mona Agarwal and Avani Lekhara produced a commanding performance in the women’s 10m air rifle standing SH1 qualification at the 2026 Asian Para Games in Nagoya on Monday, securing the top two positions and boosting the country’s medal prospects ahead of the finals.

Agarwal led the field with 629.1 points after six heats, setting a new Asian Para Games qualifying record and surpassing the previous mark held by China’s Zhang Cuiping. The Indian shooter came painfully close to the world record of 629.4, which is jointly held by compatriot Lekhara and Slovak Veronika Vadovičová.

Lekhara, meanwhile, scored 626.4 points to finish second in the qualifying order, securing India’s berth in the medal-deciding round. With both the shooters finding their rhythm in the warm-up phase, India will look to convert their strong start into a double podium finish.

Notably, Avani and Mona are gold and bronze medalists from the Paris 2024 Paralympics.

India also secured two finalists in the SH1 men’s 10m air rifle, Rakesh Nidagundi finished seventh with 619.3 points and Swaroop Unhalkar placed eighth with 617.4. However, Anandha Krishnan did not make the cut and finished the qualification in 13th place with 605.2 points.

The shooting success followed an impressive start to India’s para-archery campaign when Sheetal Devi produced a world-record-equaling performance in the women’s combined event qualifying round. The 19-year-old scored 704 out of a possible 720 points, breaking the world record and breaking the Asian record by six points.

Sheetal’s total eclipsed the previous continental benchmark of 698, making her one of the most outstanding competitors to date. The reigning world champion and bronze medalist from the Paris Paralympics will now try to transfer her exceptional form to the elimination fights.

Indian archer Payal Nag also made a strong impression, scoring 675 points to finish joint fifth in the women’s qualification. Her performance further strengthened India’s position in the event as the country looks to add to its medal tally in Aichi-Nagoya.

With record performances in shooting and archery, India got off to an encouraging start to proceedings at the Asian Para Games on Monday.