Mona Agarwal secures her second gold medal at the 2026 Asian Para Games with a world record performance in the 50m rifle event, as India continues to build on its impressive overall medal tally in Aichi-Nagoya.
Mona Agarwal's Record-Breaking Triumph
Indian para shooter Mona Agarwal clinched her second gold medal at the Asian Para Games 2026, setting a world record in the women's 50m rifle 3 Positions SH1 final on Friday. Mona produced a record score of 357.5 to finish 3.8 points ahead of China's Cuiping Zhang, who claimed the silver medal. The Indian shooter had earlier won gold in the women's 10m air rifle standing SH1 event on the opening day of the Games. Avani Lekhara, the other Indian competing in the final, narrowly missed out on a podium finish, ending fourth. She had been among the top two after the prone position but lost ground in the standing series.
Mona's latest triumph added to India's medal tally at the ongoing Games in Aichi-Nagoya, where the country continued its push to surpass its best-ever Asian Para Games performance. Earlier on the opening day, Mona and Avani had secured a one-two finish in the women's 10m air rifle standing SH1 event. Mona won gold with a score of 250 after the seventh series, setting an Asian Para Games record and surpassing Avani's previous mark of 249.6 from the 2023 Hangzhou edition.
India's Growing Medal Tally
India's para athletes and shooters enjoyed a productive Day 5, with the country adding several medals across disciplines. In para badminton, Nitesh Kumar won gold in the men's singles SL3 final, while Pramod Bhagat settled for silver. Naveen Sivakumar also secured gold in the men's singles SL4 event, defeating Indonesia's Fredy Setiawan in the final.
In para archery, Harvinder Singh and Vijay Sundi won gold in the men's recurve doubles event. Sandeep claimed gold in the men's 400m T64 final, with Ajay Kumar taking bronze, while Haney secured gold in the men's javelin throw F37/38 final. India also collected silver medals through Thulasimathi Murugesan in women's singles SU5, Nithya Sre Sumathy Sivan in women's singles SH6, Pooja Jatyan and Bhawna Choudhary in women's recurve doubles, Parmod Bijarnia in men's 1500m T46 and Nimisha Suresh in women's long jump T47. Jehan Madan and Shubham Wadhwa won bronze in men's doubles para table tennis MD4.
India had a total of 103 medals, comprising 27 gold, 33 silver and 43 bronze, and were fourth in the standings at the time of writing, with China leading the table with 354 medals. India are now targeting a tally beyond their previous best of 111 medals, achieved at the Hangzhou Asian Para Games in 2023, as competition continues in Aichi-Nagoya. (ANI)
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