Another teenager from India struck gold at the ongoing Deaflympics in Brazil, as Abhinav Deshwal won the men’s 10m air pistol event to win the country’s third gold medal at the Games on Friday in Caxias do Sul.
The 14-year-old held his nerve in a thrilling final which involved a shoot-off for the gold medal against Ukraine’s Oleksii Lazebnyk.
The other Indian in the draw, Shubham Vashist managed to finish sixth among the eight finalists.
Deshwal managed to score 49.3 in the opening series (first five shots) which kept him in fifth place. Slowly though, he started to claw his way back into the competition.
He shot 19.4 in his last two attempts to level proceedings with Lazebnyk, both equal on 234.2 points, thus calling for a shoot-off for the gold medal.
Essentially, each shooter would take a single shot and the one with the higher score would take the title. Lazebnyk managed 9.7, but Deshwal hit a 10.3 under pressure.
It was India’s third gold medal of the event and fifth overall.
Men’s 10m air rifle shooters Dhanush Srikanth and Shourya Saini won gold and bronze respectively, followed by another gold medal by the badminton team.
Vedika Sharma won bronze in the women’s 10m air pistol event on Thursday.
The five medals won at this edition of the Deaflympics already takes India level with the tally claimed at the previous edition in 2017 – where the contingent won one gold, one silver and three bronze.
Also read:
Explainer: India at Deaflympics – here’s what you need to know about the quadrennial event
From learning to shoot through drawings, Dhanush Srikanth charts path to gold
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!